Secrets and Surprises
by Hoshi-Naito
Summary: What surpises are in store when some very special guests visit Duel Academy? Who is this mysterious woman that Jaden seems to know so well? And what secrets are they hiding? JXA AU Post-SOL
1. Preparations

_**New story. Haha. Those of you that read my other stories, please don't kill me. I've been fighting a war against writer's block, and my plot bunny army abandoned me. One of them came back, and this is what it gave me, so I'm just gonna sorta go with it, amd hope it puts me back in the swing of things.**_

_**This story takes place in an Alternate Universe, and happens after the Society of Light. The characters may be a bit OOC at times, but it's mainly because this is an AU, so they're coming from different circumstances than they had in the show. So no outright flames, please. Jaden and the others have already met Jesse and the other transfers at this point. There will also be characters from other animes popping in here and there, but I'll try to make sure that I write it in a way that it won't be confusing to anyone not familiar with those characters.**_

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh, Yu-Gi-Oh Gx, or any of the amazing characters from them. I do, however, own this plot line, and any original characters that may appear in it.**

**Preparations**

**Narrator POV**

-Unknown Location-

"Duel Academy, huh? Well, well, looks like I'll be seeing you again sooner than I thought, Otouto," a woman muttered to herself. She paused for a moment, staring at the picture in her hand, before placing it down and walking away.

-Duel Academy-

"Can you believe it, Jay? Yugi Muto, Seto Kaiba, Joey Wheeler, and Duke Devlin are coming here for two whole weeks! How cool is that?"

It was true, too. A few days ago, the teachers made an announcement that three of the greatest players in Duel Monsters history, along with the creator of Dungeon Dice Monsters, would be arriving at Duel Academy the very next day. The entire school was bustling with the news, and everyone was giddy with anticipation.

Jaden grinned at Syrus's enthusiasm. The shorter boy was bouncing up and down, and it was apparent that he was having trouble containing his excitement.

"It's totally sweet, Sy! I can't wait 'til they get here. I just hope I get to duel them!" Jaden replied, eager to join in the shorter boy's happiness.

"This is going to be a great year, eh, Sarge?" Hassleberry asked, joining their conversation.

"Of course it will be! After all, The Chazz is going to leave you losers in the dust will his superior skills this year!" Chazz smirked, striking his usual over-dramatic pose.

"If by 'superior skills', you mean 'showing off, then getting your rear end handed to you because you got too confident', then yes, Chazz, you most certainly do have superior skills," Bastion countered, smiling as he walked up to his friends.

"Oh! Burn!" Jesse laughed, joining in on the fun.

"Ugh! What would you dorks know?" Chazz was beginning to look irked.

"Chazz, my friend, we really need to find you a girlfriend," Jaden chuckled at his friends' antics.

"Or some manners," Hassleberry added casually.

"Why you! You'll see! This will be the year that my darling Alexis finally acknowledges my love for her, and becomes my girlfriend!"

Chazz's friends all sweatdropped at his typical melodramatic declaration of love for the only female member of their group. (Not counting Blair, Jasmine, and Mindy, who really only dropped by now and then, so they didn't really count in Jaden's mind.)

"Not gonna happen, Chazz. Just give it a rest already."

Chazz jumped, startled, and whirled around to find none other than Alexis standing behind him, eyes closed and arms folded across her chest, looking rather annoyed.

"Hey, Lex!"

"Hi, Jaden."

"My darling Lexi! It's so wonderful of you to join us! I was just-"

"Save it, Chazz. I heard the whole thing. And didn't I tell you to quit calling me Lexi?"

Chazz face vaulted, landing on the ground with surprising force.

"You know, Chazz, you really should listen to Lexi. After all, listening to each other is key to a healthy relationship," Jaden burst out laughing as he finished his comment.

"Shut up, Slacker! Wait a second! How come Jaden gets to call you Lexi, but I don't?"

Alexis blushed slightly, scrambling to find a logical explanation.

"Isn't it obvious?" Atticus grinned, showing up randomly behind Alexis. "It's because she-"

"Atty! Shut up!" Alexis screeched at her elder brother, giving him a swift kick in the shin.

"Ow!" Atticus clutched his injured leg, hopping up and down on the other one.

"It's because Jaden doesn't act like a creepy stalker, that's why, Chazz," Alexis cut him off, finishing his sentence before her brother could embarrass her even more than he already does.

Chazz began to sulk while his friends laughed loudly at their friend's expense.

"Students, can we please contain ourselves? Is this the manner in which you plan to behave during the conference? Honestly, can you all just behave for two weeks? And by 'you', I mean Jaden," Dr. Crowler cut in, interrupting them.

"What? Hey! They were all laughing too! Why am I being singled out?" Jaden cried, waving his arms above his head for emphasis.

"For obvious reasons, Mr. Yuki," Crowler retorted, sticking his nose in the air.

Jaden frowned. He really hated it when Crowler got into one of his "superior to thou" moods. It always ended badly for him.

"Anyway, I have last-minute preparations to attend to, so I must be going. Don't forget that you are allowed to dress out of uniform for those two weeks, but you must look presentable, so do put _some_ effort into your appearances, boys. Of course, I'd never have to worry about that with you, Miss Rhodes. I'm sure you'll look primped and polished as usual."

Crowler smirked, walking off to attend to his own business.

"I'm afraid I must be off too, I've got a new strategy I've been working on, and I just can't seem to get it right," Bastion rubbed his chin thoughtfully, before stalking off to go back to his dorm.

"I need to hit the sack. I need my beauty sleep if I'm going to be meeting the greats tomorrow. Later!" Atticus yelled, running off to his dorm.

"I should be leaving too, curfew is soon. See you guys tomorrow," Alexis strode away, heading for the girls' dorms.

"Bye, Lex!"

"Bye, Jay!"

"Well, I reckon it's time we hit the sack too," Jesse smiled at his companions.

Jaden yawned, covering his mouth his one hand, and stretching the other arm out above his head. "Sounds good to me."

The three headed off to bed after bidding each other good night.

-Back in the Unknown Location-

"The kids?" asked the same woman from before.

"At your parents' house," responded a male voice.

"Good... We have to leave early tomorrow. We should go to bed."

The man chuckled, walking up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. "Bed, huh? Sounds great to me."

She rolled her eyes, but smiled, turning around to give her husband a quick peck on the lips. "You are so perverted sometimes."

"Wait, wait, wait, _I'm_ the perverted one? Last time I checked that was you," he smirked at the dirty looks his wife shot him.

"Keep that attitude up, and you might find yourself sleeping on the couch."

His smile faltered a bit at that. "You wouldn't really make me sleep on the couch, would you?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Depends."

"On...?"

"How annoyed I am with you."

With that, she sauntered off towards their room, leaving her husband gawking unwittingly as she moved farther and farther away.

A while later, it dawned on him that she was just joking. He slapped his forehead before stumbling after his wife.

Despite the fact that he had been tricked, he was smiling. _'After all, she wouldn't be Chrystal if she didn't enjoy harassing people.'_

He walked into their bedroom to find his beautiful (though a bit... okay, a lot on the short side), brown-haired, blue-eyed wife snickering at his gullibility.

_'Oh well. Wouldn't be the first time she's gotten me, and probably won't be the last.'_

-End Intro-

Translations:

Otouto: Little brother

Characters Introduced:

Chrystal ?

Status: married, with kids

Husband: ?

Hair: brown

Eyes: blue

Height: just over 5 feet

_**So... How was the intro? I know, it was short! But I didn't want to give everything away yet! **_**XD**_** Just wait until next chapter, and you'll see. Anywhoo... Please review! It'd be nice to get some feedback.**_

_**~Hoshi~**_


	2. Arrival

_**Chapter two brought to you courtesy of: BOREDOM. **_**XD**_** This is what happens when I go on a GX kick and no one else has updated since the last time I checked. I start feeling the need to write more.**_

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, Yu-Gi-Oh GX, or any of the characters from it. I also do not own Juliana. She belongs to Anime-Queen-2011 (Mel), who was gracious enough to let me turn her into one of my characters, despite the torture that she will probably be put through in my hands. XD**

**Arrival**

-On a Boat Bound for Duel Academy-

"Where the heck are they?" shouted and irritated female voice. "The ship will be leaving in a few minutes, and they're going to miss it." A brunette woman scowled, her deep blue eyes narrowing as she folded her arms across her chest and tapped her foot impatiently.

Tristan threw his arm around his wife's shoulder, trying to calm her down. "Relax, Tea. You know those four. Chrys is anything but a morning person, and Yugi has a tendency to oversleep. Aryanna is always running behind, and it doesn't help that Duke insists on being fashionably late to everything, either."

"Well, Devlin better not be '_fashionably late' _today, or I'm gonna ring his neck out," Seto Kaiba interjected, frowning and checking his watch for the umpteenth time that morning.

"Relax, Seto, they'll get here on time," Serenity's soft voice chimed.

Seto gave his wife a small smile, a rarity to anyone else, but not so much for her.

"Yeah, Kaiba. Take a chill pill. They'll be here soon enough," Joey snickered at his brother-in-law, poking fun at his obsession with punctuality.

Seto scowled, not finding Joey's joke very amusing. "Put a cork in it, Mutt."

Joey's eyes widened, then narrowed, and his smile quickly turned into a frown. "Why you!"

"Cool it, Joseph. Now's not the time," Mai scolded him.

Joey sighed and wrapped an arm around his wife's slender waist. "Yeah, yeah. I know."

"Yeah, big brother, you're supposed to be role models for the students while we're at Duel Academy, remember?" Mokuba asked, smiling innocently while trying to derail them from yet another argument.

Ever since Seto had begun dating Serenity several years ago, He and Joey had been at each others' throats on and off. Joey had accepted to two's relationship when they had announced that they were engaged, but that still didn't stop him from going at it with his brother-in-law now and then.

Seto let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I remember."

"Excuse me, but you all wouldn't happen to know where the rest of your group is, would you?" a voice asked.

They all turned to see the captain of the ship standing there, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"I don't mean to be a bother, but we're supposed to be setting off now, Mr. Kaiba, that is, if we want to arrive on time."

Seto frowned, preparing to tell the man they were running behind. "Well you see-"

"There they are now!" a girl exclaimed, pointing to the dock, were four people, burdened with baggage, could be seen scrambling toward the vessel.

The girl had long, light brown hair, and big brown eyes that lit up upon seeing her friends. She appeared to be about seventeen, and about 5' 5".

The four finally reached the ship, dropping their luggage, and leaning on whatever they were closest to to catch their breath.

Among the four was a tall, tanned man with long, slightly curly black hair held up in a pony tail off to the side. He had green eyes, one of which had a black line coming down his cheek from the center of it. Next to him was a tall, thin woman with brown eyes and chin length brown hair with rosy pink streaks in it. She was so skinny that people often worried she was anorexic... right up until they saw her eat. High metabolisms work wonders.

The other two were a sight to behold. Leaning on each other was a man and a woman who both looked like they had just run a mile. Their hair and clothes fell in a slightly disheveled manner, and they were both gasping for air. The man had spiky black hair with an odd magenta hue, and blonde bangs, while the woman had below-shoulder length, straight, brown hair that was layered, with side bangs falling over her left eye. The eye that was visible was a lovely shade of blue.

The group stared at their friends as they recovered from their sprint to the ship.

The brunette stood up straight, trudging over to the girl who had pointed them out, and proceeding to flop down onto the bench the girl was on.

"Soooo tiiiiired," the woman whined, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

"Well maybe if you went to bed earlier, and oh, I don't know, got up on time? You wouldn't have had to run here." The girl's eyes sparkled as she picked on her lazy friend.

"But Ju-ules! I'm a creature of the night! Being a morning person is not in the description!"

Juliana snickered at her friend's antics as the brunette/rosette stumbled toward them.

The taller woman dropped down next to the two, slouching and groaning.

"Mornings should be illegal."

"Dang straight, Aryanna," her best friend agreed.

"Chrysi, I think we should skin Kaiba alive for making us get up this early."

Chrystal snickered. "Nah, come on, Aryanna! If we kill him, who will we go to when we need cash?"

Seto could feel a vein pulsing in his forehead. "A bank?"

"Duh, Seto, you _are_ the bank!" Chrystal exclaimed, laughing at her own joke.

"You two are something else," Juliana shook her head, tousling her curly hair a bit.

"If that 'something' is sheer awesomeness, then yes, we are 'something else'!" Aryanna and Chrystal high-fived and laughed at the formers joke in a manner that made it obvious they were both in desperate need of more sleep.

"Oooookay then. You obviously should have let us sleep longer."

Chrystal shot her husband a smug look. "Au contraire, mon amour, it was _you_ that kept us up half the night."

Yugi blushed and sputtered as his friends snickered at the obvious innuendo. How was he supposed to respond to that?

"Ahem. Uh, excuse me?"

They turned back around, remembering that the captain was still standing there.

"Ah, yes, this is all of us. Prepare to set sail," Kaiba gave orders to his employee.

"Wait, wait! Don't tell me. You own this boat, don't you, Kaiba?" asked Aryanna.

Seto quirked an eyebrow at her inquisitively. "Yes, why?"

"And he says he isn't a bank! Pfft!" she replied, snickering.

Chrystal burst out laughing, and the others, save for Seto, couldn't help but chuckle.

Yeah, so they were all weird. But, hey, at least they were in good company, right?

-At Duel Academy-

The faculty and staff were all scrambling about, preparing for that night's big event.

That afternoon, the ship carrying their school's founder and his friends had arrived, and it's passengers had a private lunch/meeting with the Chancellor, and a tour of the school.

A huge formal dinner of sorts had been planned for that evening to welcome the VIP's, and the entire student body, along with the teachers and the guests, were to attend.

The students were all dressed neatly, and some of the teenage girls could be seen fussing with their hair and makeup, desperate to make a good impression on these VIP's.

In the midst of all the hustle and bustle was a group of thirteen teenagers. They were all out of uniform, and dressed up more than they were accustomed to.

_**(You can skip this section if you want, it's mostly what they're wearing, but there is other stuff thrown in there besides that.)**_

Blair was wearing a red baby doll dress with a black shrug, black leggings and black ballet flats. Her hair had was held back by a thin black headband with a small bow on it. The youngest of the group stood their combing her fingers through her hair nervously.

Mindy wore an olive green, knee length, spaghetti-strap dress with a black belt around the waist and black, high heeled ankle boots. Her hair was pulled back in its usual pony tail. She and Jasmine were chattering in hurried voices, while checking in their compacts to make sure their makeup was perfect.

Jasmine was wearing a salmon pink, sleeveless dress that flared out slightly at the hips and ended slightly below mid thigh along with a pair of white, pointy-toed heels. Her hair was down, as per usual, but it had a cute butterfly barrette in it.

Alexis looked great, in Jaden's opinion, which is saying something, because normally he wouldn't notice these things. She donned her royal blue dress with flare. It was a knee length halter top dress made of a silky material, and it hugged her curves in all the right places. ...Not that he noticed that! -cough-cough- Anywhoo, her hair was pulled half up, and she wore big, black, dangling earrings to match the black satin, peep-toe heels she was wearing.

She was desperately trying to pay attention to Mindy and Jasmine's conversation, but found herself constantly glancing over at Jaden and blushing at how handsome he looked. He was smiling brightly as he joked around with the guys. Alexis had never seen Jaden dressed up before, but now she was wishing they had an excuse to dress up every day, even if it was a pain for her to get ready. Instead of his usual Slifer jacket and black t-shirt, Jaden was wearing a red button-down shirt with a black vest and a black tie. His black slacks had a silver chain dangling from them, which Alexis suspected was attached to a pocket watch, and his hair was spiked up more than usual in the back.

The two teens kept sneaking casual glances at each other when they thought no one was looking, but Atticus had noticed that the red hue on his little sister's cheeks wasn't blush, as he had initially thought.

Atticus was dressed in his stereotypical over the top fashion. He donned a purple, that's right, _purple_, tux with a black shirt underneath the jacket.

Hassleberry, however, had kept it simple. His khaki pants and white button-down with a yellow tie may have made him seem under-dressed to some, but his friends were just proud of him for wearing sleeves for once, not to mention that he had left the bandana off as well. (They had, of course, teased him for several minutes about this fact.)

Aster was dressed in his usual attire. After all, how much more dressed up can you get than a white, designer suit?

Chazz was, unsurprisingly, dressed in an all black tux, but he actually pulled it off pretty well.

Jesse looked great in a black suit and bolo tie with a teal button-down shirt.

Bastion was wearing a gray suit with a yellow shirt and a white bow-tie.

Jim's usual hat had been replaced by a slightly dressier one. He wore a off-white button-down with a dark gray vest and slacks, and had an orange bandana around his neck.

The shortest male in the group, Syrus, was wearing black trousers with a blue button-down and a black tie.

_**(Outfit are descriptions over... for now.)**_

"Well, well, don't we look handsome, Jaden."

The group turned around to see a woman with long brown hair. It was half pulled up, with her side-bangs left to fall over her left eye as usual. She smiled and her blue eyes sparkled as she looked said boy up and down. The woman donned a black, bunched, just above knee length dress with a red sash around the waist, all in a satiny material. She wore silver, strappy heels, silver jewelry, and a silver broach at the middle of the sash.

Jaden's eyes lit up and a huge grin spread on his face when he saw the woman.

"Nee-chan!" he shouted with glee as he ran forward and forcefully hugged the short woman.

The rest of the gang stared on in confusion as the two greeted each other.

"...Uh, Jaden?" the woman giggled as she looked pointedly at his friends.

"What?" he asked, turning to see what she was starting at. Realization dawned on his face as he realized that his friends had no clue who she was. "Oh. Ha-ha, sorry guys. I'd like you to meet my older sister, Chrystal." Jaden smiled as he motioned to the woman next to him.

The woman beamed at them as she walked a bit closer to the group. "It's so nice to finally meet all of you. Otouto's told me so much about all of you."

She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "You," she pointed at Syrus, "must be Syrus. And you," she pointed at Hassleberry, "must be Tyranno."

The two smiled and nodded as she got their names right.

Chrystal continued down the line, pointing at each one as she said their names. "Jesse, Chazz, Aster, Bastion, Jim, Atticus, Mindy, Jasmine, Blair, and..." Her smile turned coy as she approached the last one. "You must be Alexis. Did Jaden ever tell you that he-"

"Finish that sentence, and I'll tell Yamaki that you've been skipping out on your paperwork!" Jaden shouted, frantic, with a deep blush on his face.

Chrystal froze, then whirled around to glare at him. "You wouldn't," she growled with venom in her voice.

"Try me." Jaden glared back at her with equal irritation.

After a few moments of them staring each other down, the gang began to grow concerned. Just as Bastion was about to speak up, Chrystal's eyes softened, and her scowl turned into a small smile.

"You've learned well, kid. Maybe a little too well."

Jaden smiled back at his sister. "Yeah, well, I had a great teacher."

The two chuckled at their little inside joke.

"Well then," Chrystal straightened up, looking back at the rest of the gang, "we best be getting in there before they start without us. My husband's probably wondering where in the heck I got to. I'll see you later, ne, Otouto?"

"Yeah. Be sure to drop by and bring the others," Jaden hugged his sister one last time before they went their separate ways.

"Will do, kiddo." And with that, she sauntered off to go join the others.

"...Hey, Jaden, who's you're brother-in-law?" ask Alexis, wondering who Jaden's sister could be married to if she was here.

Jaden smiled mischievously. "You'll see. Come on, guys, we need to get in there!"

Jaden grabbed Alexis's hand, tugging her in the direction of the room the dinner was being held in as the others followed behind them.

The gang raced in the door and found a spot where two long tables had been pushed together. They all took their seats just as Chancellor Sheppard stepped onto the stage and began tapping on the mic.

"Good evening, students, faculty, and honored guests. It is with great pleasure that I introduce to you our school's founder and owner, Mr. Seto Kaiba." The audience clapped as Kaiba walked up on stage, taking the mic from Sheppard.

"Thank you, Chancellor Sheppard, and good evening to everyone. My colleges and I look forward to two weeks of teaching, having fun, and getting to know some of you. To start things off, I thought I'd have them all come up here and introduce themselves. You probably know of most of them, but a few you most likely haven't heard of."

At this, a group of 12 people joined Seto on the stage, and formed a line across it. The gang all became wide-eyed and confused upon noticing Jaden's sister on the stage.

Seto passed the mic to the woman next to him.

"I'm Serenity Kaiba, Seto's wife, and Joey's younger sister," Serenity introduced herself, smiling, before passing the mic again.

"Joseph Wheeler, Joey for short."

The mic continued to be passed after each person introduced themselves.

"Mai Wheeler, formerly Mai Valentine."

"Tristan Taylor."

"Tea Taylor, formerly Tea Gardner."

"Mokuba Kaiba, Seto Kaiba's younger brother."

"Rebecca Hawkins, American Duel Monsters champion, and Mokuba's girlfriend."

"Duke Devlin, but you probably already knew that."

"Aryanna Eustacia Devlin, but you can call me Aryanna, Anna, or Ary, if you so please."

"Juliana Andrea Drake."

"Yugi Muto, but you probably already knew that too."

"I'm Chrystal Muto-"

"MUTO!" came the collective shout from the gang as Jaden leaned back in his chair, chuckling.

Chrystal giggled a bit before finishing. "But most of you here probably know my little brother, Jaden Yuki."

All around the room, gasps and shouts could be heard as jaws dropped, people fell over in shock, and others spit their drinks out.

"Jaden Yuki! No, that's not possible!" came the shout's from Dr. Crowler. "This is all some kind of joke."

Bonaparte couldn't even speak. The short man sitting next to Crowler was stunned to silence.

Even the Chancellor seemed shocked. Obviously, he hadn't known either.

"You mean Yugi Muto is your brother-in-law, and you never told us?" Syrus shouted at his friend over the crowd.

"You never asked, Sy," Jaden replied calmly, still smiling.

"Come on, Sarge! That's not something a man should keep from his platoon!" Hassleberry yelled, clearly startled by this new found information about their friend.

"I conquer. Jaden, you might have mentioned this before," Bastion added.

"Jeez, Jay, y'all Yukis sure know how to surprise a room fulla people. I never woulda seen this coming," Jesse seemed the most calm of the group.

As the other members of the group continued shouting at Jaden, Alexis stared up at Chrystal in silence, too shell-shocked to form a coherent response.

Chrystal stared straight back at her, a feline smile on her lips. _'Oh yes. This is going to be a very fun two weeks,'_ she thought to herself.

-End Chapter-

Translations:

au contraire: (French) on the contrary

mon amour: (French) my love

otouto: (Japanese) little brother

nee-chan: (Japanese) big sister

-OC's-

Chrystal Hoshi Yuki Muto

age: 24

hair: brown

eyes: blue

height: 5'1"

nicknames: Chrys (friends), Chrysi (husband, family, best friends)

Juliana Andrea Drake

age: 17

hair: light brown

eyes: brown

height: 5'5"

nicknames: Julie (friends), Jules (pronounced the same as Jewels: Chrystal)

Aryanna Eustacia Devlin

age: 25

hair: brown with rose pink streaks

eyes: brown

height: about 5'7"

nicknames: Anna or Ary (anyone who wants to)

_**So... how was the second chapter? Like it? Love it? Hate it? By the way, if you're wondering why Tea seems very OOC in this chapter, it's because she's nervous about making a good impression, and she's not very fond of Chrystal for reasons that will be explained in later chapters. Reviews would be very appreciated! **_**XD**


	3. The Psycho Twins

_**Wow. It's been a while. Sorry about that, but I've been super busy the past few weeks. Thanks for all the encouragement though! Especially from Anime-Queen-2011 who really helped me out when I got stressed out about something. This chapter is dedicated to you, Mel! Anywhoo, without further a due, the next chapter! Tad-ah!**_

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, Yu-Gi-Oh GX, Digimon, or any of their characters. The only things I own are this story, and my OC's.**

**The Psycho Twins**

Dr. Crowler sighed, looking at the clock again, then back to the rest of the room. Yugi, Chrystal, and Jaden were still missing, and he was supposed to begin the day's lecture soon. What's worse, Yugi was supposed to be the one talking first!

Alexis fidgeted in her seat, eyes sifting through the crowd for any sign of Jaden, but coming up empty yet again.

Last night had been utter chaos after everyone found out that Jaden's elder sister, Chrystal, was married to the world's best duelist, Yugi Muto himself. Their group of friends had been the worst, flipping out and flying completely off the handle.

Golden brown orbs floating to the doorway once again, Alexis spotted a figure making it's way through. Unfortunately, it wasn't the figure she was looking for.

Yugi walked in, clothed in typical Yugi-ish attire. Black pants, a black belt, and a black sleeveless shirt with a black, belt-like choker.

"Mr. Muto! Here at last! I was beginning to wonder if you had gotten yourself lost! I feared I would have to send a search party after you." Chancellor Sheppard warmly greeted his guest.

Yugi chuckled and smiled. "No, no, I'm fine. I'm sorry I'm late. You see, Jaden and Chrystal have a sort of tradition. Every time they see each other after being separated for quite some time, they spend their first night back together watching anime and catching up all night until they fall asleep. Unfortunately, it just makes them that much harder for me to wake up the next morning. They'll be here as soon as they both shower and get dressed. I'd like to thank you again for letting Jaden have a room in the guest dorms for the next two weeks. It means a lot to Chrysi to have him just a room away."

"Of course, Mr. Muto. It's no problem at all. Those two seem pretty close," Chancellor Sheppard added.

Yugi gave the older a small smile and his eyes went soft. "Yeah. Those two have a... unique bond that you won't find anywhere else. I've been married to Chrysi for six years, and even I don't understand it."

Sheppard's eyes widened a bit. "Six years? But you're only twenty six, and she's only twenty four. Wouldn't that mean that you got married when she was only eighteen?" he asked.

"Yeah... it's a long story, and one I'd rather not go into right now. I'll um... tell the story later, when there aren't so many people around. It's a little... private." Yugi looked a bit sheepish as he explained.

Chancellor Sheppard shot him a slightly uncomfortable look. "You didn't get her -er..."

Yugi looked a bit confused for a moment before his eyes grew wide an his mouth opened as realization dawned on him. "Oh! No, no! It's not like that! Ha ha, Chrysi doesn't believe in premarital sex, so... yeah. Pregnancy wasn't the reason." Yugi laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

The chancellor let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't that he was judging, just that it wouldn't exactly have set the best example for his students. "So, do you have any children though?" he asked, genuinely curious.

Yugi's eyes lit up and a big grin stretched across his face. "Yep! We have a four year old son and a two year old daughter! Taichi Ryuu Muto and Jade Hoshi Muto." Yugi pulled out his wallet, showing the older man a picture of two children.

The boy, Taichi, looked a lot like his mother. He had her overly pale skin, blue eyes, and brown hair.

The little girl, Jade, on the other hand, looked more like her father. She had the same black hair with it's unusual magenta hue, complete with natural blonde highlights. Her eyes were the same shade as Yugi's as well.

Sheppard gave him another odd look. "You two sure don't waste time, do you?"

Yugi looked a bit sheepish again. "Yeah well, neither of them was really... planned, per say, but that doesn't mean we love them any less."

"Oh, I see. They were both accidental pregnancies. You weren't planing to have kids so soon."

Yugi chuckled. "Not at all! Chrysi panicked when she found out she was pregnant with Taichi, and wasn't much better the second time!"

Sheppard smiled at him. "So, how does Jaden like having a nephew and niece?"

"Jaden loves it!" came a voice from the doorway.

Alexis' head turned from Yugi and Sheppard to see Jaden standing in the entrance, looking slightly tired, but having his signature goofy grin present on his handsome face.

Her eyes raked over him, taking in what he was wearing. The first thing she noticed was that his hair was spiked in the back again. She was beginning to think this was his new style. His black skinny jeans had two silver chains dangling from one side, and his black fingerless gloves matched his black leather jacket. It was the kind that was designed with a choker-like strap at the top, though Jaden's was unbuttoned, and the jacket itself unzipped to reveal a plain red t-shirt. All in all, she had to admit that he looked... sexy. There was really no other word for it.

She subconsciously ran her fingers through her hair while looking down at her own attire. Strangely enough, after the dinner last night, Jaden's sister had practically pounced on her, begging her to try on the latest outfit she had designed. Alexis had been skeptical at first, but with some reassurance from Jaden, she hesitantly agreed.

Alexis had to admit, she had yet to regret the decision. The blue mini skirt matched the blue vest she was wearing perfectly, no doubt made from the same material. The vest was open, and it's collar was sticking up. She wore a black, sleeveless turtleneck underneath it and black fingerless gloves that looked like a female version of Jaden's. Her black high-heeled ankle boots were surprisingly comfortable.

Looking back up, she noticed Chrystal staggering into the room, clearly exhausted. Jaden sniggered at his sister's sluggishness.

Chrystal- '_Chrys,' _she reminded herself. _'She told us to call her Chrys, since we were Jaden's friends.' _Chrys was wearing black skinny jeans held up by a white, studded belt and a red spaghetti-strap tank top, over top of which she wore a long-sleeved black fishnet shirt. Her hair was in two low, messy buns on either side of her head, and she had a black and red checkered bow clipped behind her side bangs.

It was at this point that Alexis realized something slightly odd. The shorter woman, though tiny in height, was relatively... well, busty. Compared to a woman like Mai, Chrystal's breasts were hardly what you'd call large, but compared to the rest of her body... it wasn't hard to notice. Also, her torso was rather short. Alexis hadn't noticed when she was wearing a dress, but in jeans and a form-fitting shirt, it was obvious that the woman was all legs and chest. Alexis had noticed the night before that she had rather small feet as well.

Chrystal's heavy use of black eyeliner made her look even paler than she already was, but it made her blue eyes pop. The red lipstick she wore went great with her shirt and hair clip.

The brunette stopped and looked up, noticing the stares of the crowd. "What? You could have started without me, you know."

The responding dumbfounded looks made the petite woman smirk before sauntering over to her husband and wrapping her arms around his neck as his snaked around her waist. She laid her head on his shoulder, taking a deep breath and relishing in his scent.

"Typical Nee-chan."

Alexis jumped, her head snapping to notice Jaden standing next to her, smiling at his sister, then at her.

"Oh, y-yeah. Sure," she replied, wondering how long he had been standing there.

Crowler cleared his throat, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. "Now then students, please take your seats. Today each of our guests will have the chance to speak. You'll all get a chance to ask them questions, and they will answer them as they see fit. First up, please welcome Mr. Muto."

The students all sat down wit their friends, eager to ask questions. Juliana looked around and, finding an empty seat next to Jesse, sat down next to him in the crowd, shooting him a small smile, which he returned.

Yugi smiled, stepping forward. "I really didn't prepare anything, so I'm kind of just going to wing it. I'm sure the majority of you have all watched footage of Duelist Kingdom and Battle City, so I'll spare you the long-winded stories, and just tell you a little about myself. As most of you probably know, I was born and raised in Domino, where I lived with my mother and grandfather. My grandfather owns a game shop, so I pretty much grew up around gaming. I really don't have any idea what you guys want to know, so I sort of just decided to make this a Q and A type thing. Anyone have a question?"

Dozens of hands shot up. A drop of sweat slid down Yugi's forehead as he laughed nervously. "Um, you," he pointed to a random teenage boy.

"Would you say that it's your grandfather that got you into dueling?" the boy asked.

Yugi smiled. "Definately. I mean, at first, I loved playing, but it wasn't that big of a deal to me. By the time Duelist Kingdom had rolled around though, dueling had become a huge part of my life. My deck actually used to be my Grandpa's deck. He gave it to me to use, and I owe a lot of my success to the amazing cards in it." He looked around the room again. "Um, you there in the pink shirt," he pointed to another random teen, this time a girl.

The girl's eyes sparkled as she asked her question. "How did you meet your wife?"

Yugi chuckled upon remembering the story. "Well you see, my friends and I had just finished a huge test, so we all decided to go down to the beach to rest that weekend. We had been there for a few hours, when all of the sudden a huge storm blew in. It was pouring, and all of us were getting cold, so we decided to go home.

Just as I was about to leave, lightning flashed to my left, and I turned to see a girl sitting in the rain, knees to her chest, giving no sign of getting ready to leave. I remember thinking she was crazy, and that she was going to catch her death. A few minutes passed, and she still hadn't moved. At this point, I was getting worried. Sure, she was a complete stranger, but I didn't want her to get hurt. So, I walked over an called to get her attention.

The next thing I know, she's looking up at me with big blue eyes, hair flattened down and clothes drenched and sticking to her, shivering ever so slightly. I asked her what she was doing out there, and why she wasn't going home. She told me she was far away from home, and couldn't go back yet. The next thing I asked her was where she was staying. She shrugged and said she didn't have any place to go.

I don't know if I went temporarily insane that day, or if I had fallen for the blue-eyed beauty staring up at me, but next thing I knew I was leading her back to my place, and offering to let her stay. My mother threw a fit about me bringing home a girl I didn't know, but I couldn't just leave her there. Luckily, Grandpa agreed with me, and managed to calm mom down. The rest is, as they say, history."

A chorus of "Awwwwww!"s could be heard from the female half of the student body, and staff for that matter. Even Alexis had to admit that it was a pretty romantic story. She looked over at Jaden, frowning when she noticed the hardened look on his face.

"What's wrong, Jay?" she whispered.

His head turned toward her, an he gave a small, apologetic smile. "Sorry. It's just that what brought Nee-chan there that day wasn't the most pleasant of situations, and I don't like to think about it."

She reached out under the desk, grabbing his hand and squeezing it, before reluctantly letting go. "I'm sure Chrys wouldn't want you to dwell on it." She gave him a small, reassuring smile.

His eyes grew happier at that, and his grin turned sincere. "Thanks, Lexi."

"Any time, Jaden."

The two returned their attention to Yugi, who continued to answer questions. They realized that they had missed one boy's question entirely, but it wasn't a big deal to Jaden, because he probably already knew the answer anyway. Yugi called on another girl.

The girl, a bottle blonde with mud brown eyes and tanned skin, smiled in a manner Yugi could only assume was mean to be seductive. "Boxers or briefs?"

Yugi's face turned cherry red as he gaped at the blunt girl. "I- that- uh-"

Seto, Mokuba, Duke, Tristan, and Joey could be seen snickering behind him while Serenity, Rebecca, Aryanna, Tea, and Mai either gawked or glared at the girl for asking such an inappropriate question.

"Well, answer her, Yug!" Joey managed to spit out in between laughs.

"Yeah, Yugi! Inquiring minds want to know!" Tristan fell over he was laughing so hard.

Jaden was laughing so hard there were tears running down his cheeks. Alexis however, was appalled that the girl, who she knew for a fact was only a freshman, was asking a married man that question.

Yugi glared at both his friends and his brother-in-law for laughing at him. He was about to tell the girl that he'd rather not answer that, when he saw his wife stalking towards the girl.

When the other men noticed this, they instantly sobered up, wondering what she was going to do to the girl. Chrystal, after all, was known for being a little... possessive when it came to her husband. Not that she didn't have reason to be. Yugi's fangirls were constantly making passes at him.

Chrystal lifted a hand wiggling a finger in the universally known "come here" motion. The girl hesitated, dragging her feet a bit as she trudged toward the woman who's husband she had essentially just been hitting on.

When the girl finally reached the spot, Chrystal leaned forward, whispering something into the girl's ear. The girls face grew paler with each word, and she was trembling by the time Chrystal leaned back and sauntered away with a satisfied smirk on her face.

The girl stumbled back up the stairs to her seat, then flopped down, sinking into a slouch.

"What did you say to her?" asked Sheppard, who looked both concerned and curious.

Chrystal gave him an innocent smile, tilting her head to one side a bit. "Oh nothing. I just told her what happened to the last woman who tried to seduce my husband."

Yugi, his friends, and Jaden all paled.

Now Sheppard was really concerned. "Which would be...?"

Chrystal giggled a bit, eyes closed. "Let's just say, she spent the next three weeks with a handsome doctor. Too bad she wasn't conscious for any of it."

The rest of the room now looked at her with a mixture of shock and fear.

"What the heck is wrong with you?" The blonde girl's (obviously not naturally) red-headed friend shouted at Mrs. Muto.

Chrystal smiled, her eyes opening. "Lots of things. Would you like a list?"

"You-" the girl screeched, pointing at the short woman. "You're crazy!"

Chrys merely smirked at the girl. "Why yes, yes I am. Thank you ever so much for noticing."

The red head grabbed her friends arm, dragging the still freaked out blonde behind her as she stormed out of the room.

"Mrs. Muto, I can't say I approve of that sort of... aggressive behavior. I can understand being put off by a woman flirting with your husband, but hospitalizing a woman?" Sheppard looked a bit distraught. He had started taking a liking to Mrs. Muto, but this? What was he supposed to do?

Chrystal's eyes narrowed as her jaw set into a scowl, fists clenching at her sides. "Flirting? Oh no. This bitch wasn't just flirting with him. She was talking about X rated crap she wanted to do with him, not only in front of me, but in front of my kids! _That's _where I draw the damn line."

Alexis was... absolutely stunned. _'What kind of slut talks about a man like that in front of his wife and kids?' _she though. She glanced over to find Jaden tensed up. His hands clawed around the edge of the desk, gripping at it. And his eyes... Alexis didn't think she had ever seen him so enraged before. Not that she could blame him. That was his sister, and his nephew and niece. It was understandable that he'd be furious.

She laid on of her hands on his, rubbing it to get his grip to loosen. After a few moments, he released the desk, gently grabbing onto her hand instead, obviously trying not to do the same thing to her as he did to the desk.

Alexis fidgeted a bit when he didn't let go. She could feel her face beginning to grow warm.

"Sorry," she heard him mutter. "I'm probably making you uncomfortable. It's just... it calms me down."

She squeezed his hand. "It's fine. Just relax. What's done is done. That woman will never show her face again. Your sister scared her off." Alexis smiled, winking at him.

Jaden smiled back, thankful for having something to laugh about.

Crowler cleared his throat. "Anyway... um back to what we were doing. Why doesn't Mr. Kaiba take a turn at answering questions?"

The rest of the questionnaire went off without a hitch, each of the VIPs taking a turn in the spolight. Seto had been asked questions about running a company, Duke about developing games, and Tea was even asked about being a professional dancer.

Things, however, ended a bit early, and lunch wasn't ready yet.

"Well, um, does anyone have any other questions for any of our guests?" asked Dr. Crowler.

One hand shot up in the audience.

"Yes, Miss Jenkins?"

The raven haired girl blushed as all of the attention turned to her. "Um, I actually have a question for Mrs. Muto."

Chrystal quirked an eyebrow, but stepped forward. "Yes?"

"Well, um," the girl stuttered. "I was just wondering if you could maybe tell us a little bit about yourself. You know like: your job, what type of music you listen to, what your favorite hobbies are... stuff like that?"

Chrystal's face appeared rather emotionless. "My full name is Chrystal Hoshi Yuki Muto. I love to read, write, draw, and design clothes. I listen to a little bit of everything, but mostly rock. And, I hate to break it to you, but I work for a top-secret government organization, so I'm not allowed to tell you anything."

Crowler rolled his eyes. "That's very funny, Mrs. Muto, but let's not joke. What's your real job?"

Seto answered for her. "She's not joking, Crowler."

Crowler shot him a skeptical look, but it eventually turned to one of disbelief. His head turn back to Chrys.

"Any other questions for me?" Mrs. Muto asked, face still stoic.

Several hands went up.

"Alright then. You, in the third row in the green shirt." She called a random teenage boy.

"I don't mean to be rude, but are you like... goth or emo or something?" the boy asked, shuffling a bit, worried his question would offend her.

Oddly enough, Chrystal smiled. "Not really, no. It's just that my favorite color is black, seconded closely by red. It may come off as me being goth, but really I just prefer to wear a lot of black. Wearing all color makes me feel like a rainbow threw up on me."

Several teens in the audience laughed at her joke.

"Anyone else?" Her eyes skimmed the room. "You in the pink shirt in the front row."

The girl smiled at Mrs. Muto. "You and your brother seem really close? Don't you two fight at all? My brother and I are always fighting!"

Chrystal threw her head back and laughed, holding her stomach, while Jaden fell on the desk laughing himself to tears and hitting the desk with one hand.

The girl looked a bit uncomfortable, afraid she had asked a stupid question.

When Chrystal finally gained control of herself, she answered the poor teen. "Jaden and I fight all the time! Just you wait! By the end of this conference, everyone will be so annoyed with us they'll be planning to maroon us on a deserted island in hopes that we'll go mad and kill each other off! The thing is that Jaden and I have learned how to keep the arguing from affecting us. We work as a team a lot, so quarreling gets us absolutely nowhere. Anywhoo, next question? ...You, boy in the black beanie!"

The boy looked a bit confused. "Um, first of all, what's 'anywhoo'?"

"Huh? Oh. Anywhoo is just kind of my word. It's basically just a weird way of saying anyway."

"Oh, I get it. Anyways I was going to ask if you duel."

A large drop of sweat ran down the brunette's forehead. "Not really. I've tried... and failed miserably. I'm kind of a novice. Nothing at all compared to my husband. Pretty much anyone in your school could probably whoop me. I'm much better at Digimon. Ever heard of it?"

The boy's face lit up. "Oh yeah! My little sister plays that game! She enter tournaments all the time! Pretty good too, she kicked the butts of not only her age group, but the one above her!"

Chrystal smiled and put her hands on her hips. "Wow. That's pretty impressive. Has she ever gotten a chance to meet either the Digimon King or Queen?"

"She wishes! Rika Akiyama's been her role model since she was a little girl! Back when she was still Rika Nonaka!"

Crystal chuckled. "Not exactly the best role model that one. Rika's a hellion. Even by my standards. They don't call her the Ice Queen for nothing, you know."

"You make it sound like you know her."

"Oh. I do. Rika's actually one of my closest friends. We've worked together since we were teenagers."

The brunette boy's green eyes enlarged, and his brows shot up. "You know Rika Akiyama?"

"And her husband," Chrys added, smiling happily.

"Oh wow! Wait until I tell Alana that I met a woman who knows Ryo and Rika Akiyama! She'll be so jealous!"

Chrystal smiled. "Any other questions?"

One girl in the audience looked around before shyly putting her hand up.

"Yes?"

"Well, um, I sort of overheard Yugi earlier when he mentioned something about kids. Do you two have any?

Blue eyes sparkled at the mention of her kids. "Yes, we have a four year old son and a two year old daughter."

The teen girl grinned. "What are their names?"

"Taichi Ryuu Muto and Jade Hoshi Muto."

"I remember from earlier that your middle name is Hoshi. Did you name Jade after Jaden and yourself?" the dirty blonde haired girl asked.

Jaden smirked. "Yup! After her favorite uncle!"

Chrystal scowled at him. "Her _only_ uncle."

Jaden waved his hand dismissively. "Details, details."

The girl giggled at the two of them. "So where did you get Taichi's name from? Is he named after someone too?"

Both siblings visibly flinched, grimacing at the question.

"Yeah... he is," Chrystal answered vaguely.

"Well who then?" the girl pressed for further information.

Chrys stared blankly at the floor. "Trust me, that's not a story you want to hear."

"Come now, we're all curious, so just tell us," Crowler interjected.

Chrystal sighed, rubbing her temples. "Taichi was my best friend when I was fifteen, practically my brother. We worked together. Sometimes... working at a place that no one knows exists can be taxing, so having friends on the inside is a relief. However... little did we know that our other best friend, Hideki, was actually a spy. I still kick myself to this day for falling for Hideki's lies. I had been... infatuated with him, and I had let it cloud my judgment of him.

One day, I overhead Hideki talking to his.. boss. I confronted him about it, and the next thing I know, he was pulling a knife on me. I was too shocked to think straight. I just... froze. Taichi happened to choose that moment to walk in the room, and he instantly jumped in front of me, demanding to know what had gotten into Hideki. Hideki... stabbed him repeatedly. I screamed for help, and three of the men who work with me rushed in and tackled Hideki to the ground. Someone called 911, but my the time the paramedics had gotten there... Taichi had lost too much blood. He died in my arms as I frantically screamed at him to stay with me. ...I will never forget the cold, blank look on his face. It still haunts me. ...Taichi saved my life that day. If he hadn't shown up, there's no doubt in my mind that I would've been the one stabbed to death."

The room was dead silent for a few moments before Sheppard cleared his throat awkwardly. "It's um... lunchtime. Please make your way to the cafeteria."

Students began walking toward the door, muttering to each other or remaining silent in shock of what they had just heard. Jaden walked over to his sister, laying a hand on her shoulder before squeezing it, then letting his hand drop back to his side and walking away.

-In The Cafeteria-

"It must have been awful watching you sister go through that Jaden. I'm terribly sorry," Bastion broke the awkward silence at the table. Juliana had joined the gang for lunch, sitting between Jaden and Jesse after having greeted Jaden warmly.

"Actually, I didn't know her back then," he muttered, stuffing a large piece of shrimp in his mouth.

The group, save for Julie, looked at each other, confused, then turned to Jaden expectantly.

"Chrystal is adopted. They hadn't met until Jaden was ten, which would make Chrysi seventeen."

The gang turned to look at Julie, who had answered their unspoken question.

"So," Syrus started, looking back at Jaden again, "You and Chrys aren't really related?"

Jaden gave him a small smile. "Nee-chan and I have always said that we're related in everything but blood. She may not be my sister by birth, but it doesn't mean I don't still consider her my sister."

The gang smiled at Jaden's devotion to his sister. It was obvious that he really looked up to her.

"So, how did y'all meet then?" asked Jesse.

Jaden looked a bit... hesitant to answer. "Are you sure you guys want to know?"

They all nodded, genuinely curious.

Jaden sighed. "When I was ten, there was this group of teenage guys who were in a sort of gang. They were always breaking into places, shoplifting, spray painting graffiti everywhere, you name it. One night, it was raining really hard, and I was running home, late for curfew because I had been dueling another kid from my class.

I tried to take a shortcut through a back alley, when I caught those punks ganging up on a girl. I recognized her because she was my best friend Jamie's older sister. Anyway, it turns out their leader of sorts had gotten into his old man's beer supply and was drunk and holding a switch blade to her throat.

I watched as the guy's friends all told him he was crazy, and he had gone too far this time, then bolt, leaving him alone with the girl. So I jumped on the guy, knocking him over, and shouting at him to leave her alone. Lucky for me, he had dropped the knife in the fall, and the girl ran off, scared out of her wits. It didn't however, stop him from kicking the tar out of me, then picking the knife back up.

All I remember was closing my eyes, and bracing myself for pain when I heard the sounds of the knife dropping, and someone getting beat up. I was balled up in a corner, trembling in fear, eyes still clamped shut when things went silent.

When I finally summoned the courage to open my eyes, the first thing I say was a hand being held out to me. I looked to see whose it was, only to find a brunette with blue eyes."

Jaden smiled at the memory. "The first thing she said to me was 'Well, are you gonna take my hand or not, kid?' After a few more moments of staring, I took her hand.

I was too shaken up to answer her when she asked where I lived, so she took me back to her place, cleaned me up, dried me off, and dressed my wounds. We sat on her couch, me wrapped up in a big blanket, watching television and drinking hot chocolate until I had finally calmed down enough to tell her what happened and give her my address. After that, she gave me one of her hoodies, which was huge on me, but warm, grabbed an umbrella, and walked me home.

My parents started crying when they saw me. They must've been really worried. They thanked Nee-chan over and over that night.

The next time I saw her was when we bumped into each other at the mall. After that, she started babysitting me for my parents, and I took a real shine to her. Just before she turned eighteen, my parents asked me if I wanted her to be my real sister. I, of course, said yes. It may sound odd, since she was almost a legal adult by then, but they wanted her to feel like she had a family to come home to. So on her birthday, she got adopted and engaged. What a combination, you know? Sometimes... I wonder what would've happened if I hadn't taken her hand when she offered it to me."

"Wow," Alexis muttered.

Jaden grinned at her. "I know! It's totally crazy, right? But it happened, and it changed my life. I wouldn't be who I am today if not for Nee-chan." He chuckled a bit. "You know, our friends call us the Psycho Twins, because we can practically read each others' minds. We can actually sense when something bad happens to the other one, sort of like real twins. That's why they call us that. At first, I was opposed to it, because while we consider ourselves siblings, we aren't twins, but upon realizing what we look like to other people, I didn't mind so much."

"Attention, students! Lunch break is over! Please return to the room for today's lecture by Yugi Muto on dueling techniques and strategies!" Crowler's voice, amplified by a megaphone, filled the room, and the students got up, threw their trash away, and headed for the auditorium.

-Later That Night-

Chrystal groaned, dropping into bed, her black satin night gown riding up a bit, while the top slid down further. "Today was so stressful."

Yugi quirked an eyebrow at his wife, but smirked, enjoying the view of his wife's milky thighs and ample cleavage. "Your day was stressful? You weren't the one who had to speak in front of all those people."

"Aw, my poor baby." She cooed mockingly, patting the bed in front of her as a motion for him to sit down.

Yugi rolled his eyes, but sat down anyhow. Chrys massaged his bare shoulders, appreciating the fact that he was shirtless and his pajama pants were sliding down his hips a bit. Yugi tried to bite back a moan, but it slipped out anyway. At this Chrysi smirked and slid around in front of him, pushing him back so that he was laying on the bed, with her straddling him.

"You're so tense, but I think I know of something that will loosen you up," she whispered in his ear, fingers trailing up and down his chest and abdomen.

"Do tell," Yugi replied, voice low and laced with desire.

Chrystal giggled, leaning forward until their lips met in a passionate kiss.

_'So much for getting extra sleep tonight,'_ Yugi thought to himself, though he could honestly say that at that moment... he really didn't care.

_**So... anybody want to take a crack at where Chrystal works? It should be fairly easy if you've watched Digimon Tamers. **_**XD **_**Anywhoo, sorry if that last scene seemed a little... smutty. Keep in mind that they **__**are**__** a married couple in their early/mid twenties. It's kind of bound to happen. Ha ha. Anyway, I hope you liked the latest chapter! This one kind of gives some insight into Jaden and Chrystal's relationship. The next chapter will kind of fill in the gaps of what was being said and done with some of the other characters while this one focused on Jaden and Chrystal. Also, as the story goes on, you'll get to see how Chrystal has influenced the lives of Yugi's friends, and how Jaden has influenced the lives of his friends outside of Duel Academy. Hold on to your hats, ladies and gentlemen, because starting soon, things are about to get confusing. So pay close attention, because you never know when something that might seem insignificant at first is going to lead up to something big. **_**XD**

_**~Hoshi**_


	4. The Calm Before The Storm

_**(Ducks for cover.) Don't kill me! I'm sorry! I would've written sooner, but life got in the way! I had drama stuff, finals, etc.! And then... I just couldn't decide what to put in this chapter... So yeah. Writers block blows, but most of you probably already knew that. Anywhoo, I'm kinda winging this chapter, so... wish me luck? **_**XD **_**I'm gonna need it.**_

**DISCLAIMER: Do I still need to do one of these? I don't own the show! It's not that hard to comprehend.**

**The Calm Before the Storm **

"Where are Jaden and Chrys?" asked Syrus, looking around the room crowded with people.

"I dunno, private. Has anyone seen Serge or his sis?" Hassleberry asked the rest of the group.

They all looked around, then at each other before shaking their heads.

Chazz let out a sigh, "Figures, the Slacker and his sister are the last ones in again. They probably overslept again."

Alexis turned her head to something that caught her eye. "Or not," she said, pointing at Jaden and Chrystal, who had just walked in the room.

Chrystal's hair was let down and was naturally curly. She wore a pair of black, Bermuda shorts with a slim fitting bright purple T-shirt that had the words "SANITY IS BACK-ORDERED, SARCASM IS IN UNLIMITED SUPPLY," written in bold black lettering on the front. There was a chain with dog tags on it around her neck, and gray, pinstripe Vans with bright purple laces on her feet. (1)

Jaden was wearing gray skinny jeans and a black T-shirt with the words "Why so serious?" written on it in a bloody red font. His hair, as was becoming the norm, was spiked up in the back. He too had dog tags hanging from a chain around his neck.

Juliana smiled, rushing forward to greet each of her friends with a hug, which both returned.

Alexis felt a slight pang of jealousy as Jaden smiled brightly and wrapped his arms around Julie in a bone-crushing hug. She watched as Julie whispered something in his ear that caused him to blush and scowl at her, shooting her a biting comment. Chrys merely smirked at her brother, a mischievous gleam in her eyes. Alexis walked forward toward the three, a slight frown on her face.

Julie turned around, addressing the blonde, "Hey Alexis, can you please show me to the ladies room? I still don't know my way around that well."

"Sure thing. Follow me."

Alexis lead Julie down a few hallways and into the nearest ladies room.

"Thanks," she smiled sheepishly, "but the truth is, I don't really have to go to the bathroom. What I really wanted was to talk to you in private."

Alexis looked a bit skeptical, but decided that it couldn't hurt anything. "Alright, shoot."

Julie's face perked up again. "Do you like Jaden? Because Chrysi and I were talking last night, and she's convinced you like him, but I'm not so sure."

Alexis felt her face heat up a bit. "N-no! W-what would give you that idea!"

Julie smirked at the blonde girl. "I totally knew it! You like him too!"

"H-huh? What do you mean 'too?' Do you like him?" she asked, feeling more than a bit uncomfortable.

Julie laughed, "No, no, no! I mean you like him back! My gosh! He's practically my brother! No worries there, sweetheart! He's all yours!" Julie gave her an honest smile.

Alexis smiled in spite of herself. She had begun to worry that she would have competition for Jaden's affections, and Julie was really pretty, ridiculously nice, and had known Jaden for longer than she had. Alexis was sure she would have lost that fight.

"So... I don't suppose you know if Jesse has a girlfriend?" the brunette asked, winking at her. "Because he is just too cute! Plus, I sort of have a thing for guys with Southern accents." Julie waggled her eyebrows, grinning like a madman.

Alexis giggled, unable to help herself. "Wow. And here I was thinking you were the normal one of your group of friends."

Julie smirked. "No, there is no normal one. We're all crazy! I'm just better at hiding it."

Lexi smiled at her. "I see. Well, if you must know, Jesse is single. If you want, I might be able to convince him to show you around the island after sessions today."

A 300 megawatt smile lit up the brunette's face. "Really? That's awesome! Now I know why Jaden likes you so much! You rock, Lex!" she squealed, lunging forward to hug the blonde.

Alexis hugged her back, but looked a bit nervous after they broke apart. "Did Jaden tell you that he liked me?"

"Not quite, but trust me on this one. Chrysi and I are both positive he likes you, and we know him better than he knows himself. The only problem now is getting him to realize he likes you. Jaden's a great guy, but he's totally oblivious when it comes to people's feelings."

Alexis sighed. "You can say that again."

Julie put her hand on Lexi's shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. "Don't worry about it, Chrysi and Aryanna are plotting as we speak. And while they always manage to get us all in trouble, they do always end up getting what they want. ...Speaking of which, please don't hate me if they force me to do something that embarrasses you. They always drag me into their plans somehow." A large bead of sweat slid down an exasperated Julie's face.

Alexis laughed nervously. "I won't, but I'd really prefer if you kept the embarrassment level to a minimal."

"I'll do what I can, but Chrysi is sort of an unstoppable force of nature. Anyway, we should probably get back. We've been 'going to the bathroom' for an awfully long time."

"Good point."

And with that the two strolled back to the room, finding only two empty seats left, right in between Jaden and Jesse. They sat down, smiling at their crushes who smiled back at them.

"Ahem! Now that everyone is here, it's time to begin," Crowler began. "First of all, I have an announcement to make. Tomorrow will be a dueling tournament, of which the winner will get to face off against Yugi Muto."

The crowd of students went nuts, screaming at the top of their lungs. They could hardly believe they they had a chance to prove themselves against the King of Games.

"Students! Students, please!" Crowler barely managed to get them all to settle down. "Now, I'm sure you're all very excited, but for now, please control yourselves long enough to listen to Mr. Kaiba. Today, he'll be talking about how to run a company successfully. Pay close attention, because some of you may need a fallback option if becoming a pro duelist doesn't work out for you."

Seto stepped forward, taking the mic and beginning his lecture. It wasn't long before some students started zoning out or falling asleep. Others began to whisper amongst themselves.

"Psst! Adalyn! Hello?" whispered a red headed girl in the audience, her bright green eyes shining with excitement. When the raven haired girl still didn't respond, the red head tore a piece of paper out of her notebook, scribbling down a quick message, before chucking it at the back of the girl's head.

Adalyn Jenkins whipped around to see her red headed friend, Rosaline Dawes, smirking at her. The black haired girl scowled at her friend, gray eyes flashing, before un-crumpling the note.

_I can't stop thinking about the story of how Yugi and Chrystal met! It's just so romantic! I wish something like that would happen to me!_

Adalyn rolled her eyes, but jotting down a response before sneakily passing it back to the other girl.

_If you spent as much time on your homework as you did reading those cheesy romance novels of yours, maybe you'd be doing better than barely passing._

Rosaline stuck her tongue out at her friend and responded.

_Whatever! Anyway, I also thought the story of how Joey and Mai got together was adorable! I feel kinda bad for the guy that she broke up with though. What was his name again?_

_His name was Valon. He had asked Mai to marry him, and she agreed, because she knew he loved her and thought that she could learn to love him. But she was really in love with Joey and it broke his heart to find out she was going to marry Valon._

_Oh yeah! So Chrystal smacked some sense into her, and she broke things off with Valon, and told Joey how she felt!_

_Exactly, now if you don't mind, I'm actually trying to listen!_

_Alright, stick in the mud! Go back to listening to the boring lecture! I, on the other hand, am going to listen to my iPod._

Adalyn rolled her eyes again. Sometimes, Rosaline could be a pain in her behind.

Meanwhile, across the room, two boys were in the middle of a hushed conversation.

"I'm telling you, Tony! You have no idea how unbelievably cool this is!" a brunette with green eyes whisper-yelled at the blonde haired, blue eyed boy next to him.

The blonde boy, Anthony Tanner, rolled his eyes at his friend. "I get it Jace, she knows this Digimon Queen that you sister idolizes."

Jace McCormick scowled at the blonde. "No, you don't get it. Alana worships Rika Akiyama! If I can convince Mrs. Muto to get me an autograph, maybe Alana will help get back that picture of us," Jace blushed, "You know? The one from spring break, where we lost that bet to Rodney and had to dress up as girls. If that picture gets out, we'll become the laughing stock of the school! And then Adalyn will never like me!"

Tony blushed at the memory. "So let me get this straight, you want to bribe that demonic little sister of yours into stealing Rodney's camera and deleting that blackmail picture he has of us?"

"Yes! You know what Lana's capable of! She can totally do it!"

"I don't know, Jace. Is it really worth it? I mean, Adalyn is so... I don't know, Adalyn! Trust me, man. She dumped me after the first date."

Jace rolled his eyes. "That's because you showed up an hour late because you were playing video games. I would've dumped you too."

Tony blushed. "Whatever, man! Go back to fantasizing about your precious Adalyn!"

This, of course, sparked another round of bickering.

Back with our favorite group of students, the whispers flew as they didn't even pretend to pay attention.

"Go fish," Alexis muttered.

Syrus frowned and picked up another card.

"Got any threes, Jaden?" Lexi asked.

"Nope. Go fish. Chazz, got any aces?"

Chazz sighed, handing the grinning brunette his ace. Jaden took the card, and laid it down with his own ace.

"Any twos?" Jaden continued.

"Go fish, Slacker. Got any kings, Hassleberry?"

"Go fish. Got any twos, Jaden?" he asked, smirking because he already knew the answer.

Jaden scowled, but handed him the card. "Okay, is anyone else as bored as I am? Can we please play a different game?"

"I'm with Jaden on this. I feel like a five year old," Julie agreed.

The others all muttered their agreements, tossing their cards down.

"Anyone got any bright ideas?" Blair asked.

Jaden, who was now shuffling the deck, was the first to answer. "We could have a Spit tournament. My sister and I used to play all the time." (2)

"Spit?" Jesse asked, his confused face matching the others'.

"Oh I remember that game! Chrysi used to kick our butts at it every time!" Julie added.

Jaden grinned. "How about I explain, then Julie and I will play the first round so you guys can see how it works."

When muttered consent reached his ears, Jaden split the deck in two, and handed half to Julie.

"Basically, it goes like this," he started, setting up his cards. "You make five stacks of cards. The first stack is just one face up card, the second is one face down card under one face up card, the third has two face down under one face up, the fourth is three face down and once face up, and the fifth is four face down and one face up," he explained the setup as his showed them what he meant, making a horizontal line with his card stacks.

"The cards you have left over go on your right side in between your cards and you opponents cards," he placed his cards in the right center, while Julie's were left center. "Next, you want to organize your stacks. If you have two cards that are the same number, you can put one on top of the other, and flip over a face down card." Jaden stacked one of his twos on top of the other, flipping over the face down card uncovered to reveal a four.

"You want to have five stacks all the time, so if you eventually run out of cards in one stack, you can move a card over and flip another card."

"Now the goal of the game is to get rid of all of your cards, and this is how you do it. Julie and I will do the first round slowly so that you guys can see what's going on. First, you and your opponent flip over a card from the stacks left in the middle." Julie and Jaden took a card off of the decks, placing them in the middle, between the two stacks.

"Now, here's the deal. You can place cards on both stacks, but they have to be one up or one down. For example, this card is a three, so I could place either my two or my four on it, but not both. After ten is jack, then queen, then king, and then ace. You can put either a king or a two on the ace. The goal is to beat the other in putting your cards down and keep going until neither of you can lay any cards down."

Jaden and Julie started placing cards on the rapidly growing piles, flipping over their face downs as necessary. They soon came to a stop when neither had any cards that would work.

"When neither of you can move, you both flip over the next card in the deck."

They did so, and both kept playing in this manner until Julie ran out of cards first, slapping her hand down on the smaller pile before Jaden could notice she had run out of cards.

"Um? Why did she just slap the cards?" asked Syrus.

"Whenever someone runs out of cards, both players will try to be the first to slap the smaller pile. Whoever hits it first gets to keep it, while the loser has to take the bigger pile," Jaden explained.

"Oh, I get it!" Jasmine cut in, "You don't want to end up with the bigger pile, because you win when you run out of cards!"

"Exactly!" Julie smiled, helping Jaden explain. "Whenever someone runs out of cards to keep flipping, the other keeps flipping until someone runs out of cards in their stacks, and someone slaps the smaller pile. Eventually, someone just won't have a flipping deck at the beginning of the round and all of the cards will go on one stack. When that person runs out of cards, they, or their oppenent, slap where the other pile would've been, and that person wins."

"Wow, this is kinda complicated," Jesse commented.

Julie grinned at him. "Not really, it just takes a while to get fast at. Anywhoo, Jaden and I should finish this round up so you guys can play."

"Just one more question," Bastion began, "Why is this game called Spit?"

Jaden chuckled, "Because the winner is the person who can spit out the cards faster."

"I see, well in that case, go ahead and continue," Bastion finished, smiling.

"Well alrighty then. I hope you guys are ready, because things are about to speed up."

The group stared in disbelief at how fast the two were moving. Cards were flying, and the occasional growl could be heard when one stopped the other by laying down their card first. The game went back and forth for a couple of rounds, but in the end Jaden ended up winning.

"Oh yeah! Take that!" he shouted, jumping out of his seat.

"Ahem!"

Jaden whirled around to see Seto glaring at him. "Oops."

The gang snickered from behind him, and the entire room stared.

"Jaden, I don't care if you listen to this or not, but please don't distract those who are," Seto smirked, knowing Jaden was probably feeling rather embarrassed.

Jaden sat down, sliding down so that he was slouching. Seto picked up where he left off, and Jaden and his friends continued their Spit tournament.

Jaden, unsurprisingly, won, but thankfully managed to restrain himself from shouting again.

The lecture was soon over, and they were all dismissed for lunch.

After meals were eaten, bowls of ice cream were rolled out on carts and lined up on the counters. Students and guests were each allowed to have a bowl. When Jaden's group got up there, there was only one bowl of a particular flavor left.

"Awesome!" Jaden shouted. "I get the last chocolate peanut butter swirl!"

Jaden dashed for the counter that held the delicious creamy treat, but out of nowhere something nailed him in the back of the head, knocking him flat onto his stomach. The entire cafeteria froze, turning to see a dodge ball roll away from him.

Chrystal sauntered up from behind him, swiping the bowl off of the counter and sticking her tongue out at her little brother before turning back to her table.

The entire cafeteria gawked at the scene, not quite knowing how to respond.

"Did she just-?" began Syrus.

"Yeah," interrupted Hassleberry.

"And then-?" Blair began

"It would appear so," supplied Bastion.

"...Where the heck did the dodge ball come from?" Chazz demanded, very confused.

"Beats me," added Jesse.

Jaden sprung up from the floor, pouting and rubbing the back of his head. "Owie! My sister is so mean!" he whined, spinning around and latching onto the person closest to him, who happened to be Alexis.

The startled girl's eyes shot open wider, and she squirmed a bit, unsure of what to do.

-TWACK-

Julie had slapped the back of Jaden's already sore head.

"Ow! What the heck, Juliana?"

"You can cuddle with your girlfriend on your own time. We're in public, moron," she snapped.

"Sh-she's not my!" he stuttered out.

"Just get your ice cream already! You're causing a scene," she shoved him forward.

Jaden scowled, but picked up a bowl of mint chocolate chip. He waited for Alexis to pick up her own bowl, one full of chocolate chip cookie dough, before grabbing her hand and dragging her back to their table.

Atticus laughed and watched in amusement as his sister was dragged away by her crush.

After dessert, they were all sent back to the room, where Sheppard had them all sit down.

Sheppard took the mic, and began to speak. "Well, this was supposed to be the part where we all break off into groups and play games, but you see, I left one of the teachers in charge of this event, but sadly, she came down with a bad case of the flu. Dr. Crowler was supposed to take over, but he never got the message, so... does anyone have any game suggestions?"

Chrystal's hand shot up and she began bouncing up and down. "Ooh! Ooh! Me! Pick me!"

The chancellor chuckled at the young woman's antics. He could see where Jaden learned to be such a clown. "Yes, Mrs. Muto?"

"I want to play psychiatrist!" she said, giving a slightly deranged smile. (3)

"Ooh! Ooh! Me too! I want to play that too!" shouted Jaden, grinning madly when he heard his sister's plan.

Dr. Crowler looked disturbed. "Should we be concerned?"

"No, silly goose! It's super fun!" Chrystal shouted. "Can we play? Pretty pretty please!"

"I suppose so," Sheppard decided.

"Awesome! I'm gonna need, hmm... fourteen chairs in a circle on the floor here."

Some of the staff members went and did as was requested. No one noticed as Chrystal slipped over to Sheppard, whispering something to him before returning to the center of the floor.

"If a call your name, come sit down in a chair, okay? Jaden, Julie, Syrus, Jesse, Chazz, Atticus, Blair, Mindy, Bastion, Jasmine, Aster, Alexis, Jim, and Hassleberry."

The group came down and planted themselves in the chairs.

"Hmm. Now you see, I have already played this game, so it's no fun if I'm the psychiatrist. Can I get a volunteer from the circle, please?"

Hassleberry, Chazz, Alexis, and Blair all raised their hands.

"Let's see, how about Alexis?" Chrystal picked.

"Sure. What do I do?" the blonde girl asked.

"Right now? You leave the room and go somewhere where you won't be able to hear anything. Crowler, please go with her then come back so that I can send you for her when we need her."

Crowler muttered under his breath about being bossed around by the Slacker's sister, but escorted Alexis from the room.

When he returned, Chrystal looked around the audience, and began her explanation.

"Now, here's how this game works. Each of us 'patients' has a problem. We all have the same problem, and it's up to the psychiatrist to diagnose our problem. Now, this isn't an actual medical problem. We could, for example, all think that we are the person two people to our left, or we could all believe that we've been abducted by aliens."

A few students in the audience laughed.

"In order to figure out what our problem is, Alexis is going to ask us all questions. Now, sometimes, we aren't going to know the correct answers to those questions. For example, if we all think we're the person to our right, and Jesse is sitting to my right, if Alexis asks me what my favorite food is, well how the heck would I know that? I don't know what Jesse eats! So I'm going to say something random. Like... cupcakes. Jesse, is your favorite food cupcakes?"

Jesse smiled, "Nope. My favorite food is barbeque chicken."

"Exactly, so I just answered wrong. So Jesse, knowing that I'm wrong, is going to say 'Psychiatrist!' and everyone is going to get up and change seats. The trick about it is to be sneaky. Like, if I answered, and everyone is staring at him, it'd be super easy to figure it out. Also, anyone can say psychiatrist if they know the answer is wrong. So if Aster is Chazz, and she asks Aster what his favorite color is, and Aster says pink, and I know that Chazz's favorite color isn't pink, I can say psychiatrist. Got it?"

Everyone nodded.

"Alright, now, to figure out what our problem is. Any ideas?"

"I've got one," answered Chancellor Sheppard.

"Shoot."

"How about you all think that you're Jaden."

Jaden groaned. "Please no! Anything but that!"

"Shut up, Jaden! The man has spoken," Chrystal ordered, smirking.

"This is going to be so embarrassing," Jaden whined.

Crowler left and brought Alexis back.

"All right, Alexis. Everyone in this circle is your patient, and we all have the same problem. Your job is to figure out what that problem is by asking us questions. There are some rules though, you can't ask us what our names are, and you can't ask us other questions that we think will give you the answer. If you ask a question that makes it too obvious, I'll tell you to ask a different question. You can ask different people the same question, but you don't have to. You get three guesses. Okay?"

Alexis stood in the center of the circle, not quite sure what to ask.

"Uh, what do I ask?"

Chrys grinned at her. "Try asking us personal questions."

"Um, Jasmine, who are your roommates?"

Jasmine smiled, "Right now, I don't have any."

Alexis looked very confused.

"Alright then... Bastion, what's your favorite class?"

Bastion chuckled a bit. "Any class I can take a nap in without getting caught."

If Lexi was confused before, now she was baffled.

"Okay... Atty, how do you feel about your sister?"

"I love my sister, of course."

"Mindy, what guy are you crushing on this week?"

Mindy shot Alexis a scandalized look. "Guy? Alexis, I can't believe you think I swing that way! I like girls, thank you very much!"

"What? Alright, now this is just getting weird!"

Chrystal snickered. "Just keep asking questions, my dear."

Alexis huffed a bit. "Fine. Chazz, who do you have a crush on?"

Chazz looked nervous. "Uhhhh... Blair?"

"PSYCHIATRIST!" Jaden shouted.

Alexis looked on in confusion as everyone got up and changed seats.

"Um, okay. I have no idea what just happened. Hassleberry, how well do you and Syrus get along?"

Hassleberry beamed. "We get along just great. Sy is a real pal!"

Alexis quirked an eyebrow, but was beginning to get used to the answers that made no sense.

"Chrystal, who was your first crush?"

Chrystal gave a grin that could rival that of the Cheshire cat, while Jaden looked like he wanted to die.

"Julie!"

Julie looked a bit shocked. "Really?"

"Yup. Back when you were eleven. It only lasted about a month though."

Julie smiled. "That would explain why I never noticed."

Now Alexis was completely lost.

"Uh, Jaden? What's your favorite food?"

"Fried shrimp."

Alexis smiled. "At least one of you is still sane. Anyway, Jesse? What's your favorite color?"

"Red."

"Okay then, Aster, what's your favorite hobby?"

"Dueling."

"Right, should have known that."

"Jim, how is Shirley doing."

"I'd say she's doing just fine, sheila."

"Good to hear. Um, Atty, how do you feel about being famous?"

"I think it'd be, uh, cool?"

"Interesting. Jesse, what's your favorite sport?"

"Um, soccer?"

"Psychiatrist," Chrystal barked, causing everyone to shift seats again.

"Alright. That's getting annoying. Syrus, what was your most embarrassing moment ever?"

"Um, I accidentally forgot where I was once, and shouted out something, which caused everyone to stare at me."

"Psychiatrist," Julie barely managed spit out as she fought back giggles.

"Alright, Miss Giggles. Julie, who do you have a crush on?"

Jaden turned bright red and brought his hands up to hide his face.

Julie's grin now matched Chrystal's. "You."

The rest of the gang waited for a 'Psychiatrist!', but were stunned to hear none. One by one, they all started laughing really hard, save for Jaden, who looked like he'd rather be anywhere but in that room.

The entire student body had pretty much just discovered that Jaden had a crush on Alexis. They were in shock. Staff included.

Alexis was puzzled, but decided to use up one of her three guesses. "You all think that you're someone else in the circle?"

Chrystal smiled. "You're gonna have to be a bit more specific."

Alexis put her finger to her chin, pondering. "You all think you're Chazz?"

The group started laughing again, except for Jaden, still embarrassed, and Chazz, who did not find that funny at all.

"I take that offensively!" Chazz shouted.

Alexis sighed. Clearly, that was wrong.

"Ask a few more questions," suggested Julie. "You can do it."

"Alright then, Blair, how long have you had a crush on Jaden?"

Blair shot her a strange look. "What are you talking about? I don't like Jaden. That would be so narcissistic."

"This game get's more and more bizarre. Hassleberry, how long have you known Jaden?"

Hassleberry, "Why since the day he was born, of course."

Alexis, catching onto something, turned to Aster. "Aster, how long have you known Jaden?"

"Since the day he was born, didn't we just have this discussion?"

Alexis smirked, "Chrystal, how old were you when you met your sister?"

Chrystal grinned at the blonde, realizing she had caught on. "I was ten."

"I got it!" Alexis chimed. "You're all Jaden!"

"Yup!" they all shouted, laughing.

"But, wait a second," she whirled around to face Jaden. "You have a crush on me?"

Jaden, face still red, said only one thing, "I plead the fifth," and fast walked out of the room.

Alexis looked confused.

"In America, where I come from, the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution states that no one can be forced to give testimony against themselves. To 'plead the fifth' means that you're refusing to answer a question because your answer would be self-incriminating. In this case, it pretty much means that he isn't going to say anything that can be used to further humiliate him."

Alexis turned around to see Chrys standing behind her. Chrystal smiled at her.

"He does like you, he's just a bit mortified right now. He was pretty much just indirectly forced to confess to the entire school."

Alexis felt her heart drop into her stomach. She was the one who had asked the question. If she hadn't, no one would've found out. She had just unintentionally humiliated her close friend and crush. So much for him liking her. Quite frankly, she wouldn't be surprised if he hated her now.

Everyone was now chatting, no doubt gossiping already. Alexis slipped out and ran off in search of Jaden.

An hour later, Alexis stumbling back in, sobbing.

"Sissy, what's wrong?" Atticus asked, running over to comfort her.

"Oh, Atty, I can't find him anywhere!"

"Find who?" he asked, looking back at their friends, who all looked equally worried.

"Jaden! He's gone, and it's all my fault! If I hadn't asked that stupid question-!"

"Oh sweetie, is that what this is about?" asked Chrys, who walked up and hugged Alexis, stroking her hair soothingly. "Jaden's fine. He's done this before. He and a friends of ours, Drew, will spend all night sparring together when one of them has had a rough night. Don't worry, honey, he'll be back in the morning, a few bruises here and there, but otherwise unharmed."

"You're sure?" Alexis asked. Her voice was weak, but the sobbing had stopped.

"Positive," Chrysi whispered.

"Okay," she muttered.

"Go get some sleep, sweetheart. I'm sure Jaden won't want to see you like this when he gets back in the morning."

Alexis gave her a small smile. "Thanks. I'll see you in the morning?"

"Definitely," Chrys replied, winking.

Alexis turned and started to walk away before stopping abruptly, whirling back around.

"Oh! I almost forgot! I promised I would show Julie around the island! Oh, but I'm way too tired from running around. Jesse, would you mind giving her a tour?" Alexis asked, smiling innocently.

"Well, sure. I wouldn't mind showing her around," Jesse replied, a grin on his face.

"Oh, thank you, Jesse!" Alexis chimed, winking at Julie, who was smiling like she had just won the lottery.

'Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!' the brunette mouthed to her new friend.

'You're welcome!' the blonde mouthed back.

She turned again, headed back to her dorm to turn in early for the night. When she got outside, she noted that it was still technically daylight, but the sun was beginning to set. It was then that she felt the full elation of what she had learned. Jaden liked her. Jaden, the guy she had liked for the past two years, liked her back! So much for going to bed early. She'd be lucky if she slept at all that night, she was so excited.

"And here we are, ma'am. The guest dorms." Jesse grinned as he concluded his little tour.

"Thank you so much, Jesse! I had a lot of fun tonight," Juliana replied.

Julie leaned forward, pecking him on the cheek as a thank you.

Jesse blushed, but smiled even wider. "Well, I'll see ya tomorrow."

"See ya!" she chimed, walking into the dormitory building.

"Alexis," she muttered to herself, "I owe you one."

"Things have gone off without a hitch so far," Yugi muttered, wrapping his arms around his wife's waist from behind.

"Yeah," Chrys muttered in reply.

"What's wrong?" He asked kissing the spot where her neck and shoulder joined.

"I just have a bad feeling all of the sudden," she stared out over the balcony as if she were scanning for danger.

"Let's hope it's nothing. I mean, look how peaceful everything is right now," he sighed, trying to quell her fears.

"I hope it's nothing, and that I'm wrong, but I just can't shake the feeling that this is the calm before the storm."

**Those are my shoes! I love them!**

**Spit is a very fun game. If my description confused you. Here's what the set up looks like.**

Your opponent sits here.

[5] [4] [3] [2] [1]

[D] [P] [P] [D]

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

You sit here.

D= Deck, P=Pile, numbers are the total number of cards in that stack

**I love playing Psychiatrist! It's so much fun! And you totally get to mess with people's heads! It sucks being the psychiatrist the first time though. It took me almost an hour to figure it out the first time I played! X_X**

_**Muahahahaha cliffy! What's going to happen next? I know. But do you? Find out next time, on-**_

_**...I sound like the ending of a TV show. Forget this! Review! I need mucho motivation to write more! Otherwise, I'm just going to end up being lazy all summer... again. So click the stupid button! It's not that hard!**_


	5. Complications of Increasing Magnitude

_**I've decided to start this story off with a random quote, so here it is:**_

"_**Court dismissed. Bring in the dancing lobsters!"**_

_**Kudos to whoever knows what that's from! Anywhoo, here's the next chapter.**_

Complications of Increasing Magnitude

"Has anyone seen Alexis this morning?" asked Atticus, looking around the cafeteria.

"She woke up with a killer headache this morning, and decided to sleep in a while longer," answered Mindy.

"She said she'd be here before the end of breakfast," added Jasmine.

"Speaking of missing persons, has anyone located the Serge yet?" Hassleberry questioned before shoveling another spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

"No. I'm starting to get really worried. Chrys said he would be back this morning, but breakfast is almost over, and Jaden never skips meals." Syrus had a concerned frown on his face, and he had barely nibbled on his toast.

The group exchanged glances, each wondering where their friend had disappeared to.

"Uh, guys, I think I just found him," Blair broke the brief silence, pointing at the door.

Jaden scuffled in, slouched over a bit. His hands were shoved in the pockets of the black hoodie he was wearing over top of a white T-shirt, and his dark wash blue jeans were held up by a black studded belt. What was most surprising, though, was the large bruise forming on his left cheek. The group stared at he stalked forward. Each step closer gave them a better view of the handful of small injuries he had acquired the previous night. A few more bruises, a few scratches, and a bandaged hand were all they could see, and only because he had pushed his sleeves up. The group suspected there were probably more underneath his clothes.

"Man, Serge! How did you get so busted up in one night of being awol?" asked Hassleberry.

"Sparring with my buddy Drew. He's not as good as me yet, but the kid's got skill, I'll give him that," Jaden smiled at the mention of his friend.

He looked around the group, frowning a bit when he noticed Alexis wasn't there. Was she avoiding him? Not that he could really blame her.

"Where's Lexi?" Jaden asked, looking around the cafeteria.

"She wasn't feeling well this morning. I wouldn't worry though. Alexis would never let a silly little headache keep her from a dueling tournament. I'm sure she'll be here any-" Jasmine's explanation was cut off by an ear-piercing feminine scream.

Jaden went rigid, his face paling. Before the others could react, he was out the door, Julie and Chrys hot on his trail.

"That sounded like Alexis!" shouted Mindy, concerned for her friend's safety.

And with that, their entire group ran off after Jaden, with Chazz and Atticus in the lead.

By the time they had gotten close to the area where the scream had come from, they spotted Jaden headed their way. His face was pale, his eyes wild, and in his arms was a limp Alexis.

"Sissy! Is she okay, Jaden?" Atticus way the first to speak as he frantically scrambled toward his baby sister.

"She should be fine, she just fainted. Blair, Syrus, I want you to go get Yugi, Dr. Crowler, Bonaparte, and Chancellor Sheppard and bring them back here as fast as you can. Atticus, take Alexis to Miss Fontaine. Be careful, and be sure to warn her that there's a chance she might go into shock when she wakes up, so be prepared. Jim, Hassleberry, Chazz I need you guys to go back to the cafeteria and make sure all of the students stay in there. Bastion, Aster, Mindy, and Jasmine, I want you guys to hang out back here and make sure that anyone who might have already left the cafeteria goes back. Jesse, follow me."

The group scrambled to do as they were told. They weren't sure what it was, but something in Jaden's tone of voice told them that this was a very serious situation, and he wasn't to be messed with right now.

Jesse followed Jaden closer to where the scream had originated. Jaden stopped abruptly when they were almost there, turning to face Jesse.

"This is as far as you go. I need you to head back the way we came. When Blair and Syrus get back, bring the adults here, then point them in that direction," Jaden jerked a thumb in the way they had been headed. "It's just through this patch of trees." Jaden turned around, prepared to walk back to whatever was through the trees.

"Jaden, wait! What's going on? Why did Alexis pass out?" Jesse asked, he had grabbed Jaden's wrist, forcing the brunette to turn around.

Jaden frowned at his teal haired friend. "Trust me, Jesse, you... really don't want to know. I'll explain everything later, but this isn't something you want to see."

With that, he turned and walked towards the scene, leaving Jesse no choice but to head in the other direction.

By the time Jesse got back, he could see Blair and Syrus headed his way with Yugi right behind them and the teachers scrambling behind them.

After a few moments spent convincing Blair and Syrus to turn around, Jesse lead them back toward the scene. But rather than stop where Jaden told him to, Jesse lead them in.

The group stopped dead in their tracks when they saw what was in front of them. And in that moment, Jesse instantly regretted not listening to Jaden.

In front of the was something out of a horror story. An unnaturally pale girl stood in stiff stillness, glassy eyes staring right back at them. The visible part of the girl's body was littered with ugly bruises that would never heal. Because the girl in front of them was lost to this world. Half-dried blood encircled the area on her stomach where she had been impaled by a large knife, pinning her to a tree. Her arms were covered with defensive wounds, and one of her cheeks had a particularly large bruise, probably a slap from someone who wanted her to keep quiet.

Jesse couldn't keep his eyes from raking over her body in horror. Some of her clothes had been torn, leaving her torso half exposed, and the girl's panties were on the ground by her ankles. It was obvious what had happened. This student, a girl who couldn't have been more than seventeen years of age, had been brutally raped and murdered.

The teal haired boy didn't even notice that he had dropped to his knees, hands over his mouth, staring at the girl with terror and disgust in his eyes.

A hand reached down to turn his head forcefully away. Teal eyes met chocolate brown as the other boy let out a sigh.

"I told you that you didn't want to see this. Julie, get him out of here."

Jaden walked away, Juliana instantly replacing him. The brunette met his gaze with a sad, apologetic look. She took his hand, leading him away from the small clearing that had turned into a crime scene.

"What in the heck happened here?" asked Dr. Crowler, a sick look on his face as he finally managed to tear his eyes away from the corpse hanging in front of him.

Chrystal quirked an eyebrow. "I thought that much was obvious."

Crowler scowled at her in return. "I meant who did this?"

Yugi stepped between them as his wife stepped forward, her eyes flashing in annoyance.

"Yes, because we got here a grand total of five minutes before you so we must know everything. We haven't figured that part out yet, thank you," she spat.

"Easy, Chrysi. Settle down," Yugi cut in wrapping his arms around the petite brunette, and sliding his hand up and down her back in a soothing motion. "We'll take care of it, Crowler. Just give us some time."

"What is he doing? He's contaminating the crime scene! The police will not be happy about this!" Bonaparte shouted, rushing toward Jaden, who had taken something from the victim's person.

The others moved forward towards him. Jaden unwrapped what appeared to be a note wrapped around a picture. As he read whatever was on the page, his eyes were burning with anger.

When he finished it, he threw both on the ground, running from the crime scene at a surprising velocity.

Chrystal was the first to snatch the paper. Her eyes widened at the picture before narrowing at the words on the page. She handed the note to her husband before walking about ten feet away and punching a tree. Blood ran down her fingers from her freshly split knuckles, but she paid that no mind.

Yugi looked worried and a bit sick after reading the paper, he then handed it to the other Sheppard, who read it before passing it to the other two. Bonaparte held the paper, while Crowler crouched down a bit to read.

The picture would have been heartwarming if not for the note attached to it and the fact it was found with a corpse. It was a picture of a blonde girl with golden brown eyes and a brunette boy with chocolate brown eyes. They were both in swimsuits, sitting at a campfire on the beach. The girl was laughing at something the boy had said, and the boy was beaming brilliantly at the girl in return.

It was a picture of Jaden and Alexis.

The note was just a few simple sentences, but it was enough to leave them feeling sick to their stomachs and more than a bit frightened.

_Did you miss me, Yuki? Because I missed you. I made a new friend though, and he doesn't seem to like you or that sister of yours very much. Don't worry though, Yuki, I like you. I also like that girlfriend of yours. I like her a lot. In fact, I think I might just pay her a visit sometime soon. She's awfully pretty, don't you think? I bet she'd be even prettier underneath me, screaming in pain and fear. Maybe even prettier than that girl a weeks ago. What was her name? Oh yeah. It was Sadie. Well, I guess we'll just have to find out, won't we?_

Crowler and Bonaparte both felt a chill run up their spines. Whoever this man was, his intent was clear. He fully intended to rape and kill Alexis, the same way he had the girl near them, and the same way he had this other girl, Sadie. The only question was, who was he, and what connection does he have to Jaden?

Then there was this "friend" he had mentioned. Whoever it was, it must have been bad, because they could still hear Chrystal cursing under her breath.

"This just got a hell of a lot more complicated," she hissed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Call in Jaden's team. I'm going to need backup, and he will be of no use to me after reading that note."

"Already on it," her husband muttered in response, cell phone already to his ear.

-Meanwhile-

The cafeteria was buzzing. Everyone was in a panic, and it was taking all of Hassleberry, Jim, and Chazz's skill as three of the most intimidating students at Duel Academy to keep them from leaving. Even with Shirley on the ground snapping at anyone who got too close to the exit, people were still trying to get out to see what happened.

When Chrystal, Yugi, and the others returned, Jaden's other friends trialing behind them looking thoroughly confused, the room had exploded into questions.

"SHUT UP!" bellowed the already pissed off brunette. The crowd instantly became silent.

-With Jaden-

Jaden had sped to the infirmary at a speed that most would've believed impossible. When he got there, the first thing he noticed was that Alexis was still unconscious. Atticus was sitting in a chair next to his sister's bed, holding her hand, gaze full of concern.

Mrs. Fontaine, after checking Alexis, had moved onto Jesse, who was paler than anyone had ever seen him, and looked as though he were about to be sick. Juliana was stroking his hair soothingly as Mrs. Fontaine attempted to get an explanation out of her. Julie, however, refused to budge, saying that everything would be explained later.

Jaden first walked over to Alexis, brushing some of her hair out of her face, and planting a kiss on her forehead. A choked, "I'm so sorry..." was all he managed to force out, causing Atticus to eye him warily.

He then stood up straight, shuffling across the room to Jesse. Mrs. Fontaine shot him questioning looks, but he ignored them. Julie shifted a bit out of the way, causing Jesse to look up from the spot on the floor he was staring at.

Jaden clasped his hands down on his friend's shoulders, looking him in the eye. Jesse stared blankly back at him for a few moments, before tears clouded his vision. Jesse lunged up and forward, latching himself onto his friend for support. Jaden could feel, more than hear Jesse's sobs.

The brunette held onto his friend, and Julie stood up, once again stroking Jesse's hair, shushing him.

"Please," Jesse finally managed to choke out, "Please tell me this was all a joke, a nightmare, anything. Just tell me that wasn't real."

"I'm sorry, Jess. I wish I could say that it was," Jaden stared at his friend with an agonized look.

Jesse collapsed back into sitting on the bed, covering his face with his hands and crying into them. Julie sat down next to him, pulling the teal haired boy closer to her, cradling his head to her chest.

Jaden and Juliana locked gazes, both suddenly exhausted.

Jesse's sobs eventually slowed to a stop, and he wiped his eyes dry. "S-sorry 'bout that."

"It's fine, Jesse. We all reacted the same way the first time we stumbled across a crime scene. There's nothing to be ashamed of. No one should have to witness that, much less at our age." Julie continued to keep in constant physical contact with Jesse, knowing that it would be comforting to him.

Jesse looked up at Jaden, who gave him a small, sad smile. "It's fine, buddy. Happens to the best of us."

Jesse nodded, and all attention shifted to Alexis, who had started to stir.

Jaden was instantly at her side again, this time taking the hand Atticus wasn't holding. The other three shuffled over to stand around her bed.

Golden brown orbs peeked out from behind thick eyelashes as Lexi's eyelids fluttered open. The blonde let out a soft groan as she shifted, sitting up and rubbing her eyes drowsily. As her vision came into focus, she quickly noticed that she wasn't alone. On one side of her was her older brother, on the other, her crush. Julie, Jesse, and Mrs. Fontaine were also present.

Her immediate reaction was to question what they were all doing in her room, until a quick glance at her surroundings informed her that they were not in her room, and neither was she for that matter.

"Guys, why am I in the infirmary?" she asked, scooting back so that she could have a better view of them.

Jaden, Jesse, and Julie cast each other wary glances.

"You fainted, Sissy." supplied Atticus. "What happened?"

Alexis had a puzzled look on her face, which turned into a thoughtful one. "I have no idea. I don't remember why I passed out, but I do remember having this horrible nightmare." The blonde shuddered at the memory. "It was... a bit more vivid than I would've liked."

When she was met with silence, the girl glanced up to take a better look at her companions. Atticus and Mrs. Fontaine both looked serious, but their expressions didn't worry her. The grim looks on Jaden and Julie's faces, combined with the redness of Jesse's eyes, however, made her come to an unpleasant realization.

"It... it wasn't a dream, was it?" she asked shyly, eyes pleading with them to tell her it was, and that they were only worried about her random fainting spell.

Jaden said nothing, only sighed, sat down next to her, and pulled her into a hug, tucking her head beneath his chin.

That, however, seemed to be all the confirmation she needed, as her body was soon racked with sobs.

Jaden tangled the fingers of one hand into her hair, while the other hand trailed up and down her back. He rocked her back and forth, whispering nonsense into her ear, reassuring her that everything was going to be all right.

When Jaden finally managed to calm her down enough to stop her sobbing, he helped her stand and lead his small group toward the cafeteria.

They were surprised to find that the room was practically silent, save for a bit of whispering here and there. Chrystal, through intimidation, no doubt, had managed to get all of the students and teachers back in their seats. It seemed that they were all waiting on Jaden, because the whispering picked up drastically when he returned.

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Chrystal shouted once again, glaring at the teens before stalking over to her brother. You would've thought that she had just hit the mute button on a noisy television.

Jaden quickly steered his small group to the table at which the rest of their friends sat. Noticing that Alexis was shivering, he quickly shed his hoodie, wrapping it around her shoulders, even though he knew her shaking probably had little to do with being cold.

Understanding what he was really doing, Alexis shot him a strained, though grateful look, and shoved her arms through the sleeves. He was giving her a way out. She could pretend that she was simply cold, and then no one outside of her group of friends would have to know what she had witnessed. There would be no stares, no questions. She wouldn't have to be harassed by the multitude of curious students. No one outside of her friends would have recognized her scream. For all they would know, it was the victim's.

Giving her an equally strained smile in return, Jaden turned and went to stand with his sister and Juliana, who had walked over after telling Jesse to play it cool, so that no one would ask him anything.

The three of them stepped up onto and empty table, and Chrystal cleared her throat to make sure she had everyone's attention.

"I'm sure you're all wondering what's going on. And I'm sure you will all have questions, but I need for you all to remain silent for the moment. When the three of us are done explaining, we can answer any questions, but it is of the utmost importance that you listen to what we have to say.

"By now, all of you are aware that I am adopted, I'm sure, but most of you are probably unaware of how that came to be. I'm going to make this as brief as possible. At age fifteen, I ran away from home. Please don't ask why. It's personal. But the point is, I wandered around for weeks, until stumbled across a strange, foggy cloud in a park where I had been hiding out. I went a bit closer to it to check it out, only for a bright light to encompass me. When I opened my eyes, I was floating in what could only be described as cyber space. I made the unfortunate mistake of trying to figure out which way was down, which left me falling from a ridiculous height. When I finally landed, I found myself in the middle of what looked like a desert. I had been wandering around for hours when a bright pink beam came at me. I tried to run, but it was faster than I was, and I got hit by it. The next thing I know, I'm in the middle of a forest, and this giant tree started attacking me. Then out of nowhere, this black cat creature shows up and destroys the tree. Of course, by now, you're probably all as confused as I was, so allow me to explain from what I now know.

"You're all familiar with the Digimon card game, right? Well, what you aren't aware of is that Digimon are very real. That giant tree was actually an angry Cherrymon, and the cat is my digimon, a Black Gatomon who I nicknamed Devi. I know this all probably sounds a little crazy, but I need you to play along for now. Anywhoo, I spent around two months trapped in the Digital World, during which time Devi became my partner when my D-arc showed up." Chrystal pulled out a small, electronic device that was mostly purple, with a black ring around what appeared to be a small screen. It also had a small black ring with buttons on it. A black strap came up from the top, and there was a hook at the end to attach it to things.

"Eventually, I stumbled across a group of other teens and preteens. They were fairly shocked to have run into me, but they brought me back to the real world. From there on out, I became a member of Hypnos, the top secret government-funded facility in charge of keeping digimon out of the real world. I took up a new name, Chrystal, and, in a sense, became a new person. I had gotten a second chance at life, and I wasn't going to waste it.

"Things went really well at first. I loved my job, and I quickly made friends with two boys my age. Their names, as you've probably guessed by now, were Taichi and Hideki. You already know of Hideki's betrayal, but what you don't know is what happened after that.

"You see, Hideki managed to escape from prison. Whoever he was working for obviously knew what he was doing. So my boss, Mitsuo Yamaki, ordered me to go into hiding. I spent the next few weeks wandering from place to place the way I had been before I joined Hypnos. Everything from that time is just a big blur of depression and pain. The last place I ended up wandering to was a beach in Domino City. I'm sure you all remember who I met there," she cast a glance at her husband.

"Anywhoo... after about two years, I was given the green light to come out of hiding. Hideki had vanished without a trace, and they suspected that he had decided his life was more important to him than getting revenge. Within those two years, I took up martial arts, weaponry, and bettered my Digimon skills. And towards the end of those two years, I met Jaden. I'll let him tell you his story."

Jaden stepped forward, recounting the story he had told his friends about he and his sister met.

"...About six months after meeting Chrysi, there was an accident in front of the park my best friend Jamie and I were playing at. We were in the middle of a one-on-one game of basketball, when this horrible crash caught our attention. Of course we, being ten, rushed over to the car that had been hit, while the other one drove away.

"The man and woman in the front seats were obviously dead. Even we could tell that. They were covered in blood and twisted into sickeningly unnatural positions. Jamie started throwing up, and I wasn't doing much better, but for some reason I knew I had to keep it together. I found a girl in the back seat, unconscious, but still breathing. I got Jamie to hurry up and help me get her out of there. I just had this horrible feeling something bad was going to happen if we didn't. So we unbuckled her, and pulled her out of the car. Jamie and I hid behind the bushes with her, and we soon discovered we had made a good move. Another car came out of nowhere and smashed into the back of the car, right where that girl would've been. It was then that we realized that this hadn't been an accident. It was an attempt on the lives of three people.

"Jamie and I rushed back to my house with the girl, and my mother called the police and an ambulance. The girl recovered, but her parents were gone. They never found the people responsible for the attack. The cars used had both been stolen."

Juliana took a step forward. "That girl was me. My parents and I had just moved to Japan from America. My father had been hired to work at Hypnos. His job was covering up any damage wild digimon who escaped into our world cause before anyone can find it and go into a panic. I spoke very little Japanese at the time, so losing my parents left me in quite the pickle. I had no other family, and no where to go. If I were given up for adoption, chances are I would hardly be able to understand my new parents. So Yamaki pulled some strings. I, like Chrystal before me, took up a new name. Chrystal took me in, since she too was from America, and spoke English better than Japanese."

"We later discovered that Hideki had been responsible for the attack. The creep was still on the lose, and he had been much more active that we thought. Turns out, he wasn't running away, he was hiding in the shadows, gathering new recruits." Chrystal supplied. "So, we started gathering recruits of our own."

"It was another four and a half years until he struck again," Jaden started again. "I had just turned fifteen. Jamie crashed at my place one Sunday night after a game of basketball. We didn't know that Hideki had followed us to school the next day, after seeing Chrysi leave my house the night before. He knew that Chrysi had been adopted, and that she had a little brother whom she cared for a lot, but he didn't know what this brother looked like. He had, though, through his spies, managed to obtain a name, Jaden Yuki.

"We had a substitute teacher that day, and Jamie and I had always been, well, to put it bluntly, troublemakers. We thought it would be funny to play a prank on her, so we told her that I was Jamie, and he was Jaden.

"...I'm sure you can all figure out where this is going. On our way home from school that day, Hideki attacked. He shot 'Jaden Yuki' three times. The only problem, was that he had shot the wrong guy. He shot Jamie..."

Alexis winced at the haunted expression on his face. She couldn't even begin to fathom what watching your best friend be murdered was like, and here both Chrys and Jaden had been through it.

"After that, we vowed that we would hunt Hideki down, and make him pay for what he had done. He took my parents from me, he took Chrystal's best friend from her, and he robbed all of us of the guy we all considered our brother." Julie added.

"That brings us to our current problem. One of those kids Hideki had recruited was none other than that punk who attacked Jamie's elder sister, Sadie, all those years ago, Bruce Beckett. The same kid I beat into submission for attacking Jaden," Chrystal explained, scowling. "In the short period of time since Hideki broke him out of prison, he's already killed Sadie, and at least one other. Not to mention that he's declared his next victim."

"I'm afraid," started Chancellor Sheppard, stepping forward from the small group of adults who knew what was going on. "That this morning, Miss Elaina Matthews was found dead."

Gasps were heard around the room, and a few students started sobbing, deeply distraught by the news that their friend was gone.

"Wait, what do you mean, he's already declared his next victim?" asked Adalyn, who stared accusingly at the three standing on the table.

Jaden flinched, his jaw clenched, and his eyes screwed shut, hands balling into fists at his sides.

Chrystal scowled back at the girl, slightly annoyed at the interruption. "There was a note on the last victim's person."

"Well, who is it?" asked Rosaline, who looked quite shaken up. She had been friends with Elaina.

"Think about it for a second, Bruce hates Jaden with everything in him. Jaden is the one who stopped him from attacking Sadie in the first place, and the one who got him put in jail twice. Juvenile for the first attack, and actual prison a few years ago when he tipped off the police to a drug deal that Bruce was involved in. He's too scared of me to go after me, and he's not stupid enough to go after Julie, who he knows has been trained. What girl would he want to attack in order to cause Jaden the most pain possible?"

The room hit a new level of silence as every head in the room turned to rest their gazes on one person.

Alexis felt as though her stomach was going to come up her throat. This man, Bruce, was coming after her. She could end up the same way that girl had.

"NO! He- he can't! Not- not Sissy!" Atticus stood up, shouting despite the tears that were threatening to fall.

"Relax," came a voice from behind them. Atticus whirled around to come face to face with a teenage boy. The boy had mint green hair and matching eyes. He wore a black long sleeved T-shirt with a dark violet short-sleeved shirt on top, which he left unbuttoned. His faded blue jeans had holes in the knees and were held up by a purple belt with black pyramid studs. A pair of brand new looking black Converse completed the look. "If I know Jaden, which I do, by the way, he isn't going to stand back and let that slime ball touch his girl. Trust me, Brucey-boy won't be getting anywhere near Miss Alexis."

"And you would be...?" asked Atticus.

The mint haired boy smirked at the older boy, and flicked his bangs out of his eyes. "Drew Hayden, second in command of Team Oasis. And you are?"

"Atticus Rhodes, Alexis's older brother," Atticus answered, still looking skeptical.

"Ah, Jaden's future brother-in-law," Drew smirked. "OW!" he yelped as Jaden's hand collided with the back of his head.

"What have I told you about the fiance cracks! Lexi and I aren't even dating!" Jaden scowled at the younger boy.

"Sorry, sorry," Drew muttered, rubbing the back of his head. "It's just that that story about that moron dueling you for her hand in marriage still cracks me up."

Jaden rolled his eyes. "Guys, this is Drew, the friend that I mentioned this morning."

"The one you were sparring with last night?" asked Syrus.

Another glance at Drew revealed that he too had a few scrapes and bruises, along with a bandage on his left cheek.

"That's the one," Jaden finished. "Anywhoo, how are things going?"

Drew sighed. "They picked up the body, and are planning to do an autopsy, just to make sure she wasn't drugged or anything, so that we can get a heads up if our enemy is planning to knock us out. It's doubtful that there was any involved, though. If she were out of it, she wouldn't have so many bruises from fighting off her attacker. Solidad, Harley, May and I have searched the island, but we came up dry. Not a single clue as to where he's hiding. It's rapidly becoming obvious that an evacuation in necessary. The question is, do we send them home, or do we take them back to headquarters? We're stumbling around in the dark here, Jay. He left no tracks. It's going to take us some time just to hunt him down, and if he's got back up, it could take a while to bring his forces down."

Jaden pinched the bridge of his nose. "I think we're going to have to take them all to HQ. Much as I'd like to pretend that Bruce isn't a threat, he's too much of a loose cannon not to be taken seriously. Not to mention the fact that if this leaks out, it will cause a panic. The police will start sticking their noses in our business, and things will get complicated. Tell May to search the surrounding waters. There's a slight chance that he might not have gotten too far. But tell her not to be out there for too long, as he's most likely long gone. Send Solidad back to HQ to warn Dahlia that we're going to have a lot of visitors."

"Will do," Drew muttered before scurrying off to follow orders.

"As for you guys, you're coming with me right now. I want you guys out of harm's way as soon as possible." Jaden explained.

Chrystal and Juliana walked over to join their group.

"So, what's the status?" asked the younger of the two brunettes.

"Not good. The trail is cold. We're going to have to take them back to headquarters. If we send them home, they're bound to tell someone, and once the media catches wind of this, things will get messy. If we have police barking up our tree, they'll want to do everything their way. Bruce will get away, and more people will die. We have to keep this on the down low."

"Agreed," muttered Chrystal. "Jaden, you get your friends out of here. They're at the highest risk being here. Have them pack up anything they need as quickly as possible, and you'll all have to go to each of the dorms in one group. Your team can help me with evacuation. We should have them all to HQ by nightfall. Then, Team Storm will take the first night shift. I want to see if we can find anything that Team Oasis might have missed. After that, we'll call in the other teams as we see fit."

Jaden nodded his consent to his sister's plan.

"I'll go with Jaden, just in case. Once he has them off the island, I'll report back to you to help get the other students off of the island," Julie stated.

"Sounds like a plan. Once we get everyone there, we'll explain the rules," Chrystal agreed.

With that, Jaden lead his group of friends to each of their dorms, where they packed their clothing and other essentials. Julie brought up the rear, partly to make sure no one sneaked up on them, and partly because she didn't know her way around the island.

When the task was completed, they were standing outside the Slifer Red dorms, wondering how they were to get to the mysterious "headquarters" that everyone kept talking about.

"Everyone present and accounted for?" asked Jaden. "Perhaps we should take roll call, just in case. Syrus?"

"Here," the bluenette said.

"Hassleberry?"

"Here, Serge!"

"Bastion?"

"Present."

"Jim?"

"Here, mate."

"Atticus?"

"Here, of course."

"Aster?"

"Here."

"Chazz?"

"This is stupid. Of course I'm here, Slacker."

"Blair?"

"Here~!"

"Jasmine? Mindy?"

"Here and here," they said in unison.

"Jesse, Julie, and Lexi?"

Juliana rolled her eyes. "We're all here. Now can we please get this show on the road?"

Jaden stuck his tongue out at his friend. "Alright then. You're about to enter HQ, so uh... do me a favor, and don't freak out, 'kay?"

With that, he turned his back to them. He closed his eyes and clapped his hands together in front of him in a way that made it look like he way praying. He paused for a moment, then turned them so that the palms of his hands faced in front of him, his eyes shooting open. "GATE OPEN!" he shouted, and he shoved his hands forward as if he were using them to open doors.

The others, save for Julie, couldn't stop their eyes from bulging, or their jaws from dropping. For there, in front of them, appeared two giant doors. When closed, the two formed two halves of a giant Gothic arch. They were both black and beautifully ornate. But keeping the doors closed were large, sparkling silver chains with an elaborate, shimmering silver lock.

As if recognizing who Jaden was, the chains and lock burst into floating particles and disappeared, allowing the doors to swing open together.

Behind the doors was a blindingly bright cyan-tinted light.

"And away we go," Jaden announced, walking through the doorway, motioning the others to follow him.

The others picked up their suitcases and, shielding their eyes, followed him through the light.

On the other side was an expansive room with couches pushed back all around the edge of one side. Rectangular tables were lined up against the opposite wall close to doors that most likely lead to the kitchen. Near those tables were dozens of round ones surrounded by chairs. In the front of the room was a huge stage, upon which several guitars, a drum set, a keyboard, and a grand piano sat. Directly in front of the stage was a large dance floor, complete with what appeared to be different colored lights, and a mixing table for DJ-ing.

The strangest part though, was that there was music blaring through the speakers, and on the dance floor was a single girl.

The girl looked to be about their age, with long, sunny blonde hair and aqua green eyes. Her straight across bangs were choppy, and fell just above her eyes. In her hair was an aqua green headband with a pink Dahlia. Her top was sleeveless and a pale pink with slightly darker pink trim. It had a boxed neckline, but right below the bust, it split out into an inverted V, revealing her bellybutton and part of her tummy. Her aqua green jeans were held up by a white belt. On her feet were white wedge heels.

But this wasn't the odd part about her. The odd part was that she was singing at the top of her lungs and dancing while sweeping the floor.

"Check yes, Juliet! Are you with me? Rain is falling down on the sidewalk! I won't go until you come outside! Check yes Juliet, kill the limbo! I'll keep tossing rocks at your window! There's no turning back for us tonight!

"Lace up your shoes! (Ay oh! Ay oh!) Here's how we do! Run, baby, run! Don't ever look back! They'll tear us apart if you give them the chance! Don't sell your heart! Don't say we're not meant to be! Run, baby, run! Forever we'll be, you and me!" The girl continued to put on a show without knowing it.

Jaden smiled, cutting her off by singing the next part of the song, which caused the girl to jump, spin around, and blush when she realized that they had been watching her.

"Check yes, Juliet! I'll be waiting, wishing, wanting, yours for the taking! Just sneak out, and don't tell a soul goodbye! Check yes, Juliet! Here's the countdown! 3-2-1 now fall in my arms now! They can change the locks! Don't let them change your mind!"

The blonde girl began singing again, and Juliana joined in.

"Lace up your shoes! (Ay oh! Ay oh!) Here's how we do! Run, baby, run! Don't ever look back! They'll tear us apart if you give them the chance! Don't sell your heart! Don't say we're not meant to be! Run, baby, run! Forever we'll be, you and me!

"We're flying through the night! We're flying through the night! Way up high! The view from here is getting better with you by my side!" By this point, all three of them were running around and dancing like idiots. Jaden had picked up the broom that the blonde girl had dropped and was pretending it was a mic stand.

"Run, baby, run! Don't ever look back! They'll tear us apart if you give them the chance! Don't sell your heart! Don't say we're not meant to be! Run, baby, run! Forever we'll be-!

"Run, baby, run! Don't ever look back! They'll tear us apart if you give them the chance! Don't sell your heart! Don't say we're not meant to be! Run, baby, run! Forever we'll be, you and me! You and me! You and me!"

The three teens burst out laughing, and the rest of the group couldn't help but smile. It had been a rough day, and their little karaoke moment had really helped cheer them up.

"Guys, I'd like you to meet Dahlia Day. Dahlia here is head of cleanup duty here at HQ. This place would be a total pig stye if it weren't for her," Jaden introduced the blonde girl, who smiled brilliantly at them.

"It's so nice to finally meet all of you! Jaden's told me so much about you all that I feel like I've known you for years," Dahlia was beaming as she said that, but the smile slipped from her face. "I only wish it was under better circumstances."

The rest all suddenly remembered why they were there, and they too began to frown. A brooding silence permeated the air momentarily.

"I should get back. Chrysi will need my help," Julie broke the silence.

"Be careful."

Julie gave Jaden a small smile. "Is that an order, Mr. Yuki?"

He smirked back at her. "It most certainly is, Miss Drake. See to it that you make it back unscathed."

"Yes, sir!" she barked, mockingly saluting him.

Jaden rolled his eyes as she twirled around, medium length light brown curls bouncing behind her.

"So... What do we do now?" asked Chazz, genuinely wondering what they were to do.

Jaden smiled at his friends. "Anyone care to go to the arcade? I'll bet I can kick all your butts at Guitar Hero!"

Hassleberry was the first to ask the question they were all thinking. "You have an arcade in here, Serge?"

Jaden laughed. "Hassleberry, I think the better question would be, 'What don't we have in here?'."

"Swimming pool?" asked Jim.

"A huge one! I'll have to show you guys it tomorrow. Chrysi has the whole room set up so that- ...you know what, I think I'll just wait until I can show you." Jaden grinned at them.

"A hot tub?" asked Chazz, quirking an eyebrow.

Jaden snorted. "We have imitation hot springs."

Chazz looked a bit impressed.

"What about places for sports? You know, like a basketball court, or a soccer field?" asked Aster.

"We have a basketball court, a soccer field, a baseball diamond, an ice skating rink which doubles as a hockey rink, a football field, tennis courts, a mini golf course, a bowling alley, multiple training areas for martial arts and weaponry, obstacle courses and a track for physical fitness, and a dance studio."

Now everyone looked more than a bit impressed.

"We also have chemistry labs, biology labs, computer labs, a hospital wing, and a training/learning facility for medics."

Bastion looked like he had died and gone to heaven.

"And on top of all that, every one of our members has their own bedroom, not to mention the emergency dorm rooms. We have a cafeteria, a fine dining room, and the party room, which is where we entered from."

"How can you afford all of this?" asked Jasmine.

Jaden laughed at her question. "That's the beauty of this place, you don't have to pay for anything. This is a pocket dimension. It can be infinitely expanded, or morphed into anything. It all bends to Chrysi's will."

The group of teens looked around them in awe.

"You see, this place has to be able to cater to everyone's needs. And in addition to that, we have so much going on here. You see, we're essentially fighting a war right now, but this war isn't determined by who has more guns. This war is determined by who came better prepared, with the better strategy. We have dozens of different jobs that are filled by different people. If all we had was fighters, for example, we would've been slaughtered by now, because there would be no medics to heal the injured."

"So, what your sayin' is that basically anyone can help, because you need people with talents in every field possible?" asked Jesse.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. Just look at this group. I selected each of you as not just my friends, but also as my recruits. I wasn't going to tell any of you until after we graduated, but I figured that due to recent events, perhaps I should explain sooner, rather than later."

"Wait, you mean _I'm_ a recruit? But why? I can't think of anything I can do that would help you guys at all!" Syrus sounded quite upset.

"Hey now, don't go putting yourself down yet, Sy. I already know exactly where I'd place you."

Syrus looked a bit defiant. "Oh really? And where would that be? Making people laugh at me to lighten their spirits?"

Jaden frowned a bit at the implication. "No, Sy. Not at all. I would make you a gardener. Remember those flowers you grew next to our dorm last year! You took such great care of them."

Syrus frowned. "So I take care of your flowers for you? Yeah that's a big help. I'm sure that everything would just fall apart without pretty posies to look at."

Jaden gave him a grin. "Not just flowers, Sy. Herbs and such that get used in food and in medicines. Our medics know hundreds of different remedies made by crushing, boiling, or mixing certain types of plants. They use those plants to make antidotes for poisons, pain killers for injuries, medications for diseases, you name it!"

Syrus looked wide-eyed with wonder. "Oh wow! When you put it that way, it really does sound important!"

"Of course it's important, Sy. All of our jobs here are. Take Dahlia, for example. Cleaning may not seem like such a big deal, but if the place doesn't get cleaned, all kinds of bacteria and grime can grow and make people sick. And if they're sick, they can't do their jobs."

"Wow. I guess if you look at it that way, a lot of jobs that don't seem important really are," added Jesse.

"Yup." Jaden agreed. "Anywhoo, we're here."

They had arrived at a set of double door, which they pushed through. Several jaws hit the ground as they took in where they were. Dozens of arcade games filled the room. Along the walls were rows of video game consoles and bookshelves full of games for them. There were Foosball tables, ping pong tables, air hockey tables, ski ball, you name it!

"So... who's brave enough to take me on?" asked Jaden, gesturing to the area where Guitar Hero was set up.

"Sweet! You're on, Jay!" Atticus raced to the machine with Jaden, and the others decided to follow.

They all stared on in amusement as both selected Expert Level.

"You're going to have a hard time beating him, Jay. Atty has every top score on the one in our arcade back home." Alexis smiled at Jaden, who turned and smirked at her.

"We'll see about that."

Jaden had to admit that Atticus was good. He gave him quite the run for his money. However, Jaden apparently had every high score on this game, and he easily defeated Atticus, barely missing a few notes.

"How did you _do_ that?" asked Syrus.

Jaden shot him a big grin, though you could see that he was still upset, because it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Years of practice. Anywhoo, you guys can play whatever you want, you know, you don't need my permission."

With that, they all ran off in separate directions, troubles momentarily forgotten in their excitement.

Atticus dragged Alexis over to where the DDR stand was, demanding that she play him. Much to his embarrassment, not only did she play, but she also won.

Hassleberry and Jim decided to play a game called Target: Terror. It was a shooting game in which two players could play as a team. After the first two levels, they noticed that CJY had the top score on every level. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the CJY stood for Chrystal and Jaden Yuki.

Jasmine and Mindy took to watching Atticus get destroyed in round after round off DDR.

Chazz and Bastion were currently involved in what was turning out to be an extremely competitive game of air hockey. Aster was watching them, looking quite amused.

Blair and Syrus ran off to play ski ball.

And finally, Jesse and Jaden found themselves over at the game consoles, locked in a game of Halo.

"How do you keep _doing_ that?" a frustrated Jesse demanded.

"Doing what?" Jaden asked innocently. "_Oh_. You mean _this_!" The innocent look morphed into a sinister smirk as Jaden, who was proving to be quite the good sniper, took out Jesse for about the twentieth time that game.

"UGH! I GIVE UP! YOU WIN!" Jesse shouted, dropping the controller into his lap and throwing his hands in the air in surrender.

Jaden burst out into loud, uncontrollable laughter.

The others slowly trailed over to see what the commotion was about.

"What's wrong?" Alexis asked Jesse, who was still glaring daggers at Jaden.

"Your _boyfriend_ here is cheating," Jesse hissed.

Jaden's laughter came to an abrupt halt as he started choking. "Sh-she's not my girlfriend! ...And I am not cheating!"

Jaden's face turned a vivid shade of pink, while Jesse's scowl turned into a smug grin.

"Oh, but you _wish_ she was your girlfriend! And you're right, you're not cheating. You're cheesing! Which is way worse!"

"Am not! Sniper rifles are totally legit! Otherwise, they wouldn't have put them in the game!" Jaden shouted, standing up and taking a defensive stance, arms crossed in front of him.

"I can't help but notice that you totally ignored the first claim," pointed out Aster, enjoying that for once, Jaden was the one on the bad end of the jokes.

"Sh-shut up!"

"What's the matter, Slacker? Don't like being the butt of the jokes?" Chazz cut in, a smirk set firmly on his face.

"You guys are horrible!" muttered a still flustered Jaden.

Jaden's guy friends all laughed heartily, and the girls couldn't help but giggle.

Alexis found herself unable to keep a grin off of her face. _'He really does like me. He isn't even denying it,' _she thought.

The conversation was interrupted by a snarling sound.

"What was that?" asked a frightened Syrus, who had jumped into Jaden's arms.

The sound repeated itself.

"Sorry, Sy. That would be my stomach. It's past lunchtime," Jaden grinned sheepishly, argument forgotten, and set Syrus down.

Syrus laughed nervously, embarrassed that he had overreacted.

Jaden lead them all back to the party room and into the kitchens.

The kitchens were as impressive as everything else there. They were quite large and full of stainless steel appliances. Pots and pans hung from hooks that were suspended so that they hung down over the counters.

"Hey, Rikki!" Jaden shouted.

A clanking noise, followed by a hissing sound rang through the kitchen.

Out stumbled a tall, thin girl who appeared to bit a bit older than them. She had short black hair that fell to about her chin, framing her face. Her amethyst eyes were squinted in pain as she rubbed her head. Black peep-toe stilettos clacked the ground as she tapped her foot in irritation.

Jaden quirked an eyebrow at her. "Hit your head off of the pots and pans again?"

"Well maybe if _someone_ hadn't startled me!" she spat in an accusatory tone, fixing the pair of oval shaped glasses perched on the bridge of her nose.

Jaden held up his hands defensively. "Sorry, but where's Rikki? And what are you doing in the kitchen?"

The girl dusted off her black skinny jeans and straightened her violet baby doll T-shirt.

"I came in here to get some lunch, but Rikki said that she needed to go grab something out of the freezer. I realized she had left a mess on the tables, so I was bent down under the pans to clean up when you yelled."

"Got it!" chimed in another female voice. "I figured I should thaw these since we're going to have so many people here and-"

The gang turned to see a short, petite girl with auburn hair and warm brown eyes walk in. She was wearing a mulberry colored blouse and a chocolate brown skirt complete with brown flats and a rosy pink, frilly apron. Her hair was pulled back into a bun, and in her hands, she carried two big bags full of what appeared to be packaged raw meat.

"Oh! Sorry, I wasn't aware that anyone but us was here yet!" the girl smiled cheerfully at them.

"No problem, Rikki, it's just us until tonight. Anyway, we were wondering if you could make us lunch?" asked Jaden.

"Sure thing, Jaden! I'm Rikki King, by the way, and I take it you've already met Zora Ray?" the girl introduced herself and her friend.

"Not quite. I was too busy scolding Jaden for making me hit my head off of the pans."

"Again?" asked the auburn haired girl, concerned for her friend. "Do you want some ice?"

"No," Zora muttered, turning her head to cover up the fact that she was blushing.

"As amusing as this is, ladies, I don't know how much longer I can go without food," Jaden cut in.

Zora glared at him, while Rikki just giggled.

"Excuse me, ma'am, let me help you with those," Hassleberry cut in, taking the large, heavy bags out of Rikki's hands.

"Oh, well thank you." She gave him a big smile in return.

"Would you like any help making lunch?" he asked, grinning in return.

"Well why not? Think you can handle helping me with some tacos?" she asked, winking at him.

"I suppose I can do that," he teased back.

Jaden motioned the others to follow him back into the other room, and Zora followed them out.

"Unbelievable. You guys are here for two minutes, and Rikki has already found herself a boyfriend," Zora muttered, rubbing her temples as if she had a headache.

"Aw, give the girl a break, Zora. She spends all of her time in that kitchen. The girl deserves to have some fun. You could stand to have a boyfriend yourself, you know. If only you'd stop being so grumpy," Jaden teased her.

Zora scowled back at him. "No guy wants to date a girl who's obsessed with her work and turns into a total klutz the second a cute guy walks into the room."

"Stop putting yourself down, Zora! You're amazing! Any guy would be lucky to date you!" Dahlia's voice trilled as she practically skipped into the room.

"Yeah yeah, whatever you say, Dahl," Zora dismissed the comment with the wave of a hand.

"So, what is it that you do, Zora?" Alexis asked.

Zora turned to look at her. "I collect and assemble data on our members. It's my job to make sure that if something comes up, it's handled by those who are qualified. For example, if Chrystal needs someone to go undercover and gather information, I would tell her who I felt was best suited for the job."

"Zora's super smart! We wouldn't function without her! And Rikki is in charge of the kitchens, in case you hadn't already figured that out," Dahlia added.

"Can I ask you a question, Dahlia?" asked Blair.

Dahlia giggled. "You just did, silly. But go ahead and ask another."

"Do you like your job? I mean, sure it needs done and all, but doesn't it get boring?"

"Actually, I love my job! I know most people don't like cleaning, but I do. I hate clutter and messes, and I love helping people. Plus, so long as I can crank up the music, cleaning is fun!"

"Talk about having a positive outlook on life," Alexis smiled.

"You should be taking notes, Chazz," Atticus teased.

Chazz scowled. "I'm not that gloomy!"

The others all turned to face him, quirking an eyebrow.

"What?" he asked defensively. "I'm not!"

The others continued to stare at him.

"... Stop that!"

They all burst out laughing.

"Sorry, Chazz, just messin' with ya," Jesse explained.

Rikki and Hassleberry soon finished the tacos, and they all sat down together eating their late lunch with a few laughs on the side.

After lunch, Jaden managed to convince them all to have a movie marathon in the theater, which the gang soon discovered was a real theater, complete with buttery popcorn and boxes of candy.

After watching _The Mummy, The Mummy Returns, _and _The Mummy, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, _it was time for dinner.

Rikki rushed back to the kitchen to assist the other cooks in making dinner, and Dahlia and Zora decided to join her.

When Jaden and his friends returned to the party room, they found all of Duel Academy waiting there, with Chrystal on the stage explaining the ground rules.

After dinner, which was eaten in the cafeteria, which was through another set of doors that the gang, besides Jaden, hadn't noticed, they all remained in the cafeteria chatting amongst themselves.

After they ate, Chrystal, Juliana, and Aryanna went back to Academy Island, replacing Team Oasis.

When it was time for bed, everyone gathered up their luggage and were led to the emergency dormitories. The dorms, they found, consisted of two long hallways filled with rooms. One hall had the guys' dorms, the other the girls'. The rooms were clean, and each had two bunk beds, so there was four students to a room. Jaden's room, he explained, was down a third, much longer hallway where the personalized rooms were. After promising to show them his room tomorrow, Jaden went off to go to bed himself.

Alexis shared a room with Mindy, Jasmine, and Blair. Chazz, after complaining about having to share a room, finally agreed to share one with Aster, Bastion, and Jim. Jesse decided to share with Syrus, Hassleberry, and Atticus. Shirley was given her own room.

With a long, stressful day behind them. They all soon fell into sleep.

-Time Skip-

Jaden rubbed his eyes, glancing at his alarm clock.

"Ugh. Two in the morning? Why did I wake up?"

A growling noise answered his question.

"Hungry already? Man," he grumbled, pulling himself out of bed.

Jaden walked down the hallway, looking at all the doors, which had been decorated to the owner's desire. When he finally got out of that hallway, he walked past the one containing the boys' dormitories, and was about to walk past the girls' when a sound caught his attention.

Muffled sobbing reached Jaden's ears, causing him to change course and head down the hall. After a few moments, he found a girl with her arms wrapped around her legs, and her head down. She was obviously so busy crying that she hadn't noticed him.

"Lexi?" he asked, voice barely above a whisper.

The blonde girl jumped, whipping her head up to look at him.

"J-Jaden," she stuttered, quickly trying to wipe away her tears.

Jaden offered her a hand, which she quickly accepted. After helping her up, Jaden wrapped one arm around her waist, and used his free hand to dry her tears.

"Bad dreams?" he asked.

The girl simply nodded her head, fighting back more tears.

"C'mon," he whispered, taking her hand again and leading her to the kitchen. Once their, he lifted her up and sat her on the only counter that didn't have a top, or anything hanging above it. He quickly walked over to a cupboard and grabbed out two bowls. Jaden returned after opening a few drawers and what she guessed was the refrigerator (Jaden had only bothered to turn on one, dim light, so it was still rather dark.). In his hands were two bowls of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.

"Ice cream fixes everything," Jaden smiled at her. "Well... everything but being overweight or diabetic."

Alexis smiled despite herself, accepting the frozen treat. The two of them ate in relative silence.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he whispered, looking at her with concern in his eyes.

Alexis frowned. "Not really."

"Do you want to go back to bed?"

"Yes and no." Alexis sighed.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, yes, because I'm exhausted, but no because I don't want to have that dream again. This is the third time tonight I've woken up, screaming every time. As concerned as the girls are, I can tell they're getting annoyed with me for keeping them up."

"Well then, why don't you come sleep in my room with me. I'd rather you didn't spend the night on a hall floor, and I hate seeing you go through this alone." Jaden grabbed her hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

"Thank you, but are you sure?" she asked, eyes boring into his.

"Positive," he gave her a small smile.

With that, Jaden lead her to his room, ushering her toward his king size bed with a red comforter and black sheets, which were mussed from him sleeping in it.

"I'll sleep on the couch," he muttered, gesturing to a blurred figure somewhere in his room, which she guessed was rather large.

Alexis, however, had other plans. When he turned to walk away, she grabbed his wrist, causing him to turn back to her.

"N-no! Stay, please." Her voice was barely above a whisper, but the urgency in it came across loud and clear.

Jaden simply nodded, motioning her to lay down.

Alexis curled up under the covers as Jaden walked around to the other side of the bed. He flicked off the lamp before getting in his side.

He quickly leaned over, planting a chaste kiss on her head. "Sweet dreams."

Alexis nodded, blushing, though he couldn't see her.

With that the two drifted off to sleep, and for the first time that night, Alexis didn't dream at all.

_**Oh. My. Word. That took freaking FOREVER to write. You all had better like it, or else. (growls)**_

_**Anywhoo, to clear some things up:**_

_**Drew, May, Solidad, and Harley are all from Pokemon. Mitsuo Yamaki, Rika Nonaka, and Ryo Akiyama are from Digimon.**_

_**No, I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, Yu-Gi-Oh GX, Pokemon, or Digimon. Yes, there will be some cossover-ness going on, but I will try to keep it simple.**_

_**Juliana Andrea Drake belongs to Anime-Queen-2011. I am borrowing her with permission.**_

_**Chrystal Muto, Jade Muto, Taichi Muto, Aryanna Devlin, Adalyn Jenkins, Rosaline Dawes, Jace McCormick, Anthony Tanner, Taichi Ryuu, Hideki Cain, Bruce Beckett, Dahlia Day, Rikki King, and Zora Ray are all my original characters, and I shall do very nasty things if you steal them from me.**_

_**The song "Check Yes Juliet" belongs to We the Kings, not me.**_

_**I also do not own, Guitar Hero, Target: Terror (which I am awesome at, by the way), Dance Dance Revolution, Halo, or any other video games mentioned in this fanfic.**_

_**I do own all three of the Mummy movies, but in the sense that I own the DVD set, not the copyrights.**_

_**For the record, people, the first two are fantastic movies. Watch them.**_

_**Yes, I am a lazy bum, and this should have been finished ages ago. For the record, however, I have been busy. No, that is not likely to change in the future. So for now, just keep reviewing and hope that I have the time and motivation to write. (Love you guys! Please don't hurt me!)**_

_**And for the record, you can all thank jazzmonkey for this chapter, because it was her constant nag- (cough) I mean persuading that inspired me to sit down and write. Just saying.**_

_**In other news, I got scared out of my mind last night. I was just taking a shower, as usual, when I literally blacked out. I got really dizzy out of nowhere, and the sound of the shower sounded muffled, like someone was trying to cover my ears. Then blackness started clouding my vision. Next thing I knew, I was on the floor of the tub, on my hands and knees, slumped over. I have no memory of falling. I wasn't unconscious for long, because the water was still warm, but it scared the heck out of me!**_

_**But, yeah... So... review.**_


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